Who, MD
by runs with sissors
Summary: House, MD, Doctor Who crossover equals loads of fun. Jack's in here, too. It's a big party! Final chapter up.
1. Chapter 1

Hi Everyone-

Okay, this document doesn't technically constitute as a 'story'…yet. But it will, if you help me. Okay, what I want to do is make a Doctor Who/ House, MD crossover story. And it's going to be pretty good, _I hope_, but I do want to make writing this fic worth my while. So, what I need you to do is **leave me a review** if you would be interested in reading a House/Doc. Who story.

I know it seems kind of bizarre and maybe even conceited of me to _ask_ before I start writing, but like I said before…I mean, if I'm writing this story (which always takes forever), and only two people are reviewing it, I wouldn't want to spend my time on it, because if no one's reading it I can spend my time on a different story! (Long sentence, sorry. Expect quite a few of those.)

Thank you so much and please review!


	2. You Meet the Nicest People

Look! It only took a day. Here's the first chapter. Its pretty good, ifIdosaysomyself.

Okay. I'd just like to thank everyone that reviewed and said they'd read it. You mean a lot to me because I like to have an audience…it gives me motivation! Also, this first chapter (especially) might read a little weird, but that's because I haven't done a fan fiction in like…6 months. So bear with me, and leave constructive criticism if you feel it's needed.

**Disclaimer: This is the only time I'm gonna write this, so listen up. I don't own House OR Doctor Who. The End**.

Let the games begin…I hope you're ready!

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Doctor Gregory House was, as usual, livid. And, as usual, his anger was directed to one Lisa Cuddy, the bane of Dr. House's existence. In this particular circumstance, though, House felt as though his anger was justified in that this time, it really _was _Cuddy's fault.

"What the hell do you mean 'the elevator's broken'?" House said loudly. Patients stared after them as they made their way through the hospital's hallways. Cuddy had nearly made it to the staircase when she discovered she had left an important file behind. When she got back to her office, House had been there, and had followed her clear across the hospital.

Lisa Cuddy stopped did her signature eye-roll-look-up-open-mouth-to-sigh that she did whenever someone- _House_- gave her trouble.

"I mean, literally, the elevator is no longer in service. Temporarily. I think you'll be alright, though, for a few hours." The dark haired doctor tried to make her getaway by walking as fast as her shoes would take her.

"You're joking, right?" House said, trying to keep up with Cuddy. He was not even _about_ to give up. "Great, now I'll have to page Chase and tell him I'm going to be late. Are you aware you have a crippled doctor at this hospital?"

"I am truly sorry, House. I really am," she lied through her teeth. "But we didn't get the yearly check done like I should have, and now the damn thing won't budge. The repair men are working very diligently and-"

House grabbed her shoulder, bringing her to a stop. "So, explain to me exactly why we didn't get the yearly check-up?" His voice dripped malice with every word.

"It's an expensive procedure."

"And…"

"And we used up the elevator budget to help settle the law suits you caused. _Both_ of them," Cuddy said, trying to hold back a smile. She had gotten him there.

"Well that's no excuse," House said, without blinking. "I still can't climb stairs. You know that." He stopped for a minute, thinking. "You did this on purpose, didn't you!"

Cuddy inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. "Yes, House. That's what I did. You uncovered my evil plot," she said, in a cynical tone that House didn't believe, even for a second.

"Hey, miss cheerful, I don't have time…" House said, sternly. "Look, I've got a conference with my team on the second floor at 3:00. Cut me some slack." He narrowed his eyes at her, impatiently.

Cuddy thought for a moment. "Use the wheelchair ramp to get to the first floor," she said, pointing to the ramp behind her. "Cut through the lobby and go through the door that's left of the main entrance. There's another wheelchair ramp, take that up and it lets out just right of the conference rooms." She started briskly walking away, relieved she didn't have to deal with him any more. "You'll find it," Cuddy called over her shoulder.

House, grumbling about elevators and about Cuddy, made his way up the ramp. It was easier than stairs, but not by much. By the time he reached the main lobby, the clock read 2:55. House stared down anyone that looked at him as gimped past the main Help Desk, and ignored the obnoxious, persistent nurse that told him he was being paged on Line 1, 3 and 9 by angry former patients.

He was nearly at the ramp when PPTH automatic doors opened. That was when Gregory House's life changed… in a weird kind of way.

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Earlier, at 2:38 exactly on the same day, a loud roaring was heard across the street from Princeton- Plainsboro. It was so loud, in fact, that the doctors in Conference Room 5 on the third floor gathered by the large full-length window and looked out to see if they could find the sound's origination.

"What the hell is that?" One blonde Australian doctor asked, squinting at the place the sound was coming from. "Does New Jersey ever have tornados?"

"Maybe it's a train," The brunette woman called Cameron suggested. "There's a station about a mile from here, right Chase?" She asked, addressing the blonde. "When the wind is right, sometimes you can hear..."

"No!" Cried the final doctor, Foreman. "Look now! What the…"

As Foreman, Cameron and the blonde Chase looked on, blue light flooded out of the alleyway between two buildings, parallel to PPTH, on the other side of a not-so-busy street. The sapphire-colored light lessened and darkened with every roar. Finally, after what seemed like years, the noise and light stopped. All was still.

"I am so confused," Chase said, leaning up against the wall. "Did no one on the street see that?"

"Well, _we_ saw it," Cameron said, still looking.

Chase shook is head. "Maybe we should tell House about it when he gets here. I got a page from him about four minutes ago. He said he'll be there but he may be late."

"Oh, my God," Cameron said, suddenly. "What if we're all sick with the same thing? What if we all just had the same hallucination? Quick, Chase, is your trachea closing up?"

"Well, if we really are sick," Foreman said, beckoning them both back to the window, "Then it just got worse. Look."

Cameron got her glasses out of her pocket and looked. She gasped when she saw three people emerge from the alley that the light had appeared from: a young girl with blonde hair, an older man in a leather jacket and a younger, dark haired male.

"I can't look," Chase whimpered and closed his eyes. "I don't even want to know what's going on."

Both Foreman and Cameron were silent as they watched the man in the jacket try to walk, then stumble and lean up against the side of the building, panting. The blonde spoke animatedly with the dark haired man for a second while he rested. Suddenly, the man in the jacket stood up to walk again, but to no avail.

The two doctors continued to watch as the blonde, after speaking briefly with Mr. Jacket, slung his arm over her shoulders and lifted him to a standing position. Once the man was on his feet, the younger male assisted the blonde girl, and the trio walked, with some difficulty, across the street and onto the front yard of Princeton-Plainsboro.

"Oh shit, they're coming in," Chase said. Apparently he hadn't looked away for too long. "What should we do?"

"We need to get to the lobby, now," Foreman said, walking to the door and opening it. "They need help and we know their situation." He paused. "Sort of."

Cameron joined Foreman by the door. "He's right, Chase. Come on."

Chase, reluctantly, walked over to them and through the open door. As soon as they hit the corridor, they broke into a run.

"House is going to be pissed," Chase said. Cameron, worried, nodded in agreement.

"Hopefully, if we just tell him the situation…"

Foreman laughed and opened the stairs to the stairway. "You really think he'll understand?"

"He'll have to," Cameron said, and shrugged. Foreman just hoped she was right.

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"Hang in there, Doctor," Jack Harkness said.

He and Rose neared the entrance to the hospital. The Doctor groaned in gratitude. People leaving the hospital looked at them as they passed but no one offered help. Rose thought she heard the Doctor mumble something about humans and how they thought only of themselves, so she hushed him and told him to speak. They approached the doors, which opened automatically, and the first person they saw when as they entered looked…well, he didn't look like he could run MRI's and prescribe medications.

"You!" Rose called, addressing House. "Do you work here?"

"Me?" House said, pretending like she was speaking a foreign language. "Work here? Well, technically, I…"

"Are you a Doctor?" She demanded. Her eyes were full of fear and brimming on tears. She hated to see the Doctor in pain. Hated it, hated it. And it was her fault, her fault.

"Do I look like a Doctor?" House said, knowing the answer. "Really, you shouldn't demand things of people-"

Jack grabbed the front of House's button-up jacket. "Listen, buddy, I've got a Sonic Screwdriver in my pocket and I do _not _thing that you want to tango with us."

House blinked, genuinely confused.

"Let go of him, Jack," the Doctor said. "Quit being so…"

"He's in a great deal of pain," Rose pleaded, holding back tears. "Please, help us. Help _him_."

Dr. House looked down at the man who the two were supporting and opened his mouth. Just then, Cameron, Foreman and Chase ran around the corner. They didn't hesitate.

"Come with us, please," Chase said, leading Rose in the direction of the exam rooms.

"You can't put him in there," Cameron argued. "They're all full."

House sighed. "Take them up to the conference room we were in. I'll be there soon," he said, turning to go to the front desk where he could pick up a patient record sheet.

The nurse glowered at him when he asked for one, but gave him one anyway. House braced himself for the challenge the wheelchair ramp would bring. He was nearly at the top when his cane slipped from underneath him and House caught the railing for support. The patient record sheet, though, slipped out of his hand and fell down, down, down and behind him, landing in the corner, to the right of the door he had just come out of. House growled and turned away, making his way back up the stairs.

" Just a bad day," House grimaced, limping the last few feet to the door. "A bad freaking day."

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**A/N**: I know the chances of PPTH having a wheelchair ramp indoors is unlikely, but it was vital to this story…if the elevators had been working, then House wouldn't have been late and then if he wasn't going to be late then he wouldn't have paged Chase and maybe if Chase and the others hadn't gotten a page telling them House would have been late then they may have gone out and looked for him and then they would've never seen the TARDIS land (that's what the blue light was.) And plus, if the elevators would have been working then House wouldn't have cut through the lobby and Rose wouldn't have accosted him. In fact, it's possible that House would not have even known that the Doctor was _at_ the hospital, and therefore never meet him! And then I wouldn't have a story to tell!

…But you all knew that. You are **so** clever!

Thanks for reading…please review! (I know you will.)


	3. And just WHO are YOU?

So, here's the next chappie. I know you guys liked the first one- or so I gather from your wonderful reviews, so I'm going to keep on going. Cuz I'm just awesome like that.

**People put up stories so fast on this fandom! It's crazy!**

**Anywho…**

**(Hehe, get it? Any _who_? Alright, you got it.)**

**PS- Hope you don't mind…it's a little lengthy…**

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Presently, the door to Conference Room 5 opened and House hobbled in, letting the door slam behind him.

"Weren't you getting a patient record sheet?" Chase asked.

House nodded. "Cameron, be a doll and go get it; it slipped outta my hand. Thanks."

Cameron opened her mouth to protest, but instead, visibly irked, turned on her heel and marched out the door to retrieve the sheet. Rose looked up at Foreman, disgusted.

"Is he always like that?"

"Nope," Foreman said, handing Chase a clipboard. "Sometimes he's mean."

House now turned his attention to the three strangers, two of which were in chairs- the blonde and the dark haired male- and the last one was laying on the table itself, groaning in pain.

"You," House commanded. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing much," the Doctor replied. "It only hurts when I breathe." He paused, looking from House, to Chase, and then to Foreman. "No, really, it hurts when I inhale."

At that moment, Cameron bustled through the door, still mad, with the sheet in hand. She snatched the clipboard away from Chase, who gave her a wide berth, and pulled a pen out of her pocket.

"Doctor House, if it's alright with you, I'll start questioning him now. It's evident that he's in no position to answer them himself…"

"Oh, knock yourself out, Cameron," House said, sitting down next to the blonde. "So long as I don't have to do anything."

"Alright, sir?" She said, speaking to the man lying on the table. "Your name?"

The Doctor shifted uncomfortably and smiled. "You see, that's where this gets difficult…"

"Frank," the blonde blurted. "It's Frank. Harkness." She stole a quick look at the dark haired man, who closed his eyes and shook his head in an extremely worn-out sort of way.

Cameron didn't buy it for a minute. "I think the gentleman on the table can answer for himself. Sir?"

The man on the table laughed. "No, she's right. It's Frank…" He burst out laughing before finishing, "Harkness."

Doctor Cameron inhaled deeply. "Okay, fine, Mr. Harkness. Age?"

The man on the table began laughing again. "Want to do this one, too?" He said, speaking to the blonde.

"Um…43? Right?" She asked the man on the table.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Why not?"

"Date of birth?" Asked Cameron.

"January 4th, 1959," the dark haired man said. The blonde girl was obviously confused, but said nothing.

Cameron frowned. "Is this right, Mr. Harkness?"

"Yes," the faux Harkness answered.

"Phone number?"

"Oh, I know this one," Frank said. As he said the number, Rose realized it was her cell phone's.

"Address?"

"Damn," Frank said. "None."

Cameron's eyes got big. "You're homeless?"

"Not really," Frank said. "I just don't _own_ a home. Not a permanent one, anyway."

Cameron handed Chase the clipboard. "I give up," she said. "This is too strange." She turned and faced them again. "We three saw you," Dr. Cameron said, pointing to Chase and Foreman. "We saw the blue light and heard the loud noise…and then you two came around the corner, carrying him," she said, pointing to Frank.

"Hang on a minute," Frank said. "They were not _carrying_ me."

"It doesn't matter!" Cameron said. She felt like pulling her hair out. "Who the hell are you people? Why doesn't he know his own name," she said, pointing to Frank, "And what the hell kind of a name is _Harkness_?"

The dark haired man stood up. "There is _nothing_ wrong with the name Harkness!"

"Sit down, Jack!" the blonde said, pulling on the hem of his jacket. Suddenly, her hand flew to her mouth.

"Well, now we know at least _his_ name," House said at last, standing up. "Jack Harkness. It defiantly has a ring to it. As for you, 'Frank'," House said, using air-quotes. "I somehow think that you're not who you say you are." He paused. "Actually, I think you're not who _she _says you are. And I don't even know who _she_ is. Hell, _she_ probably doesn't even know who she is!"

The blonde, 'Frank', and Jack Harkness were all very quiet.

"The truth?" 'Frank' said. "You wouldn't believe us, even if we tried to tell you."

Foreman frowned. "Listen, I've got a compromise. Now, obviously, you guys are very…um…different. And none of us know your story, other than the fact _maybe _his name is Jack. We're going to go consult out in the hallway for two minutes exactly. _Two minutes_. That should give you time to get your act together." He began walking towards the door; the other three doctors followed. "Two minutes!"

No one spoke until all four doctors had left and the door was securely shut. Rose sprang up and ran to the door, locking it.

"Alright," she said. "Jack, you check the windows; see if they're un-locked. Maybe, if we can find a way to get down, we can go back to the TARDIS and…"

"You're kidding yourself, Rose," Jack said, sitting back down. "There's no way. Besides, we should do what Dr. Foreman said…you know… 'Get our act together'?"

"_Where_ did you come up with the name 'Frank'?" The Doctor asked a now-pacing Rose.

She threw up her hands. "I dunno, it just kind of flew out of my mouth. Ask Jack here how he came up with January 4th!"

Jack looked hurt. "It's my birthday!"

"Do I really look 43?" The Doctor asked. "That's fantastic, really, considering how old I am…"

"And you," Rose cut him off. "Giving them my mobile number! What if they tried to call and it went off?"

"Relax," Jack whispered. He pointed to the door, where the voices of the four doctors were coming through very clearly.

"_I'm_ psychotic?" They could hear Dr. House say. "_I'm_ psychotic? Let's talk about Cameron here, wailing on them like they were _aliens_ or something!"

The Doctor smirked. "Maybe our Dr. Cameron is smarter then she seems."

Jack looked worried. "He's not _really_ psychotic, is he?"

"I wouldn't doubt it," the Doctor said. He winced as he tried to speak, so he dropped down to a loud whisper. "Of all of the bloody doctors in this hospital- including myself- you had to pick him!"

"I'm sorry!" Rose said loudly. Both Jack and the Doctor hushed her; she just rolled her eyes.

"What are we going to tell them?" Rose groaned and sat down, her brow furrowed. "They will never believe us…not in a million years."

"I dunno," the Doctor said, closing his eyes, clearly in an incomprehensible amount of pain. "They did see the TARDIS land."

"Wait, are you saying we show them the TARDIS?" Jack said, aghast. "I already threatened that House guy with a sonic screwdriver."

"So I heard," the Doctor growled. "Good going…you _know_ it's not meant to be used like that."

A twisted smile formed on Jack's face. "Well, yes, I know that, and you know that, but Dr. House doesn't know that. 'Sonic screwdriver' just sounds dangerous."

The Doctor didn't blink an eye. "Yeah, well, don't go boasting about it until we know they can be trusted." He tried to turn over, but shuttered with pain.

"Doctor, stop moving," Rose begged.

The Doctor licked his lips, thinking. "Well, we've got to tell them something…"

"The truth, dammit!" Jack said.

"Should we?" Rose asked. "_Why_ shouldn't we?"

"Because it's ither they believe us- they probably won't- or they call the police and we have to make a quick getaway…" the Doctor trailed off.

Rose shot him a _whose-side-are-you-on?_ Look.

The Doctor continued. "…Which won't be happening, on account of me."

"Well, we're not leaving you here," Jack and Rose said at the same time.

The Doctor, ignoring the ache, smiled and held out his hand for Rose to take it. She did, and Jack came to stand by her. "I know you won't," the Doctor said. "I'm not even worried. But I'm in loads of pain and I think the thing to do is to tell them who we really are."

"Are you sure?" Jack asked.

"Yes. No," The Doctor replied, wincing. "But when am I ever?"

At that moment, Dr. Foreman opened the door. "Ready?" He asked, as Cameron, Chase and House brushed by him, miffed at each other.

"I'll do the introductions," the Doctor said, and Rose moved away from him. "Hello," he waved from the table, very chipper. He pointed to the blonde. "The pretty thing to my right, that's Rose Tyler, she's nineteen or twenty, by now. Captain Jack Harness is to my left, the one with the…eh…sonic screwdriver…not that that means anything to you… and I'm the Doctor."

Everyone in the room was silent. Then,

"…The Doctor?" Cameron asked.

"Yep."

"Just…the Doctor."

"This is beginning to sound annoyingly familiar," Rose said, grinning.

"Wait, wait," Cameron said. "Doctor _who_?"

The Doctor smiled. "Exactly! No one knows, really. Not Rose, not Jack, I don't even think I can remember. Not that I would tell you, even if I could." He beamed at House. "You were really on to something, you know that?"

"If you're a doctor, where do you work?" Chase asked. "What's your specialty?"

"Not _a_ doctor," Rose corrected. "_The _Doctor."

The Doctor nodded at her. "Yup."

Rose smiled at him, looking spry.

The Doctor continued. "She's right, again, though. It's not a profession. I'm the Doctor because I mend things." He laid his head back down on the table.

"People?" Foreman asked.

"No. _Things_." The Doctor corrected. "Weren't you listening?"

"I don't believe this," Chase said. "I don't believe you."

"Well _you_ wouldn't," Rose said, glowering. "You seemed a coward from the beginning."

"What's not to believe?" Jack asked. "Why would we lie? We already tried once and you know how that turned out."

"Everybody lies," Dr. House explained. "The only variables are what about and why. You all are lying about your identities because you say we won't believe you. Now, ither you're insane or you're telling the truth."

"A little bit of both, I'd say," Jack smirked.

Rose piped up, "But we are telling the truth,"

"This is too much," Cameron said, sitting down. "What was that loud noise we heard? With the lights and the sound? I mean-"

"The TARDIS," the Doctor said, cutting her off. "It's a time machine…sort of. I can't think of a better way of saying it. And no, I'm not showing it to you until I know you can be trusted. My life may be in your hands," he said, shaking his head.

"Doctors, please, try and understand," Rose said. "We'll answer all of your questions, tell you everything…" She felt a little twinge of guilt then, because there was one thing that her and the Doctor had made a pact about; something that no one could know about besides them… "As long as you take care of him. Fix him so that we can leave you and get on with our lives."

"Also," Jack said, "You can't go and call the cops on us. It's none of their business what's our business; be aware of that. Are we agreed?"

Cameron, Chase and Foreman all looked at House. At last, he shook his head. "Yeah, I guess."

Rose heaved a sigh of relief.

"Eventually, though, you will have to tell us your stories," House explained. "But for right now, as much as I hate to admit it, we're going to have to do our jobs."

He told his team to go downstairs to try to secure a clinic room, while he would call Dr. Cuddy and tell him he had a 'special' patient, and to put someone else on his current case. Just before he picked up the phone, House turned back to face the Doctor, Rose, and Jack.

"TAR…DIS?" He asked. The trio nodded their heads.

House shivered. "You all have got a _lot_ to explain."

AN: I am sososo sorry this chapter took so long to put up…but here it is! Hopefully the next chapters be put up more regularly, but I hate to make promises. It might be easiest if you put the story on your alert but…:clears throat: you know…all ya gotta do is click the little button!

Of course, it's your choice…

And, how convenient, it's the same button you use to submit reviews! Uncanny!


	4. Hurry Up and Wait

Okey-dokey! Here's the next chapter. I had to make some adjustments because, well, you know when something seems like it would work out, and then it doesn't, and you have to cover for it by switching things around? That's what happened to me. Hopefully, in the end, it'll all make sense. Fan fiction is so confusing sometimes!

By the time House had gotten off the phone with (a rather aggravated) Dr. Cuddy, Cameron, Foreman and Chase were back with bad news.

"It's still jam-packed down there," Chase said. "There's not a room open for miles- if you're going to examine him, you'll have to do it in here."

"Fantastic," the Doctor said.

"You're telling me," House said. He turned to Rose and Jack. "Listen, you're going to have to vamoose if I'm going to take a look at your friend here. Doctor/ Patient confidentiality and all." He paused, looking bemused. "Although, I guess, in this case, it would be Doctor/Doctor confidentiality." He chuckled. "Funny how that works."

Jack looked at Rose, who took half a step, then hesitated.

"Go on," House said, flicking his wrists at them. "Skeedadle. Shoo, go away."

Rose bit her lip. "You're not going to…_do _anything to him, are you? Run tests? Body scans? DNA," she paused, looking for the words, "Scrapes or something?"

House scratched his chin. "Hmm…the young blonde worries over the welfare of her older companion. Am I detecting-"

The Doctor snarled at him from the table. "Shut it, you." He turned his attention to Rose. "Thanks, really, but I think I can manage."

"Right," Jack said, in an unconvinced tone. He looked at House square in the eye. "I'm watching you, buddy."

Foreman opened the door for them. "Well, right now you wont be. If you'll leave Dr. House to his work..."

House rolled his eyes, ignoring Foreman. "No, alright? I won't run any tests until I tell _Madame_ here, okay?"

Jack shot him a look as his hand moved to his pocket.

"Easy," Rose said. She drew in a breath, looked at the Doctor, pursed her lips and then left the room, closely followed by Jack. Chase shut the door behind him.

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"Now then," House said. "I've got a few questions before we begin."

The Doctor closed his eyes. "Aw, come on…can't you just tell me what's wrong so I can leave?"

"Uh…From what I saw, you can't even walk." He moved so that he was standing directly over the Doctor. "I'm not going to make any promises, but it looks like you might be spending the night here."

The Doctor tried to rise, but House put a hand below his neck. "Down, boy."

"Over night? I don't have time! I've got things to do!"

"Such as…" House prompted, genuinely interested.

"Such as saving the universe, if you must know."

House looked impressed. "Really, now? Or are you just saying that?"

"No, I'm not 'just saying that,'" the Doctor argued. He was getting angry. "You know what? Never mind. Just…never mind. Continue with your inspection."

House looked at the wall thoughtfully for a second. "Do you like that Rose girl?" He asked, not even looking at the Doctor.

"Dr. House, I guess you don't understand…"

"No," House cut him off. "I guess _you_ don't understand. _I'm_ calling the shots. Now, I swear, I'll check out your boo-boos, but answer my question. Do you that blonde…?"

"The 'blonde' has a name. It's Rose Tyler."

"So you do like her! Thank you."

"Wha-"

"Take off your jacket and your shirt," House instructed, turning his head. "If it's your upper body that hurts, then that's what I need to look at. So take off your shirt…I'm not coming on to you or anything."

The Doctor, rolling his eyes, obliged. It took longer than usual, because he had to sit up, but finally it was done. "Alright."

House turned around and, at first, didn't believe what he saw.

"Jesus Christ!"

"It's just as bad on the back, actually," the Doctor informed him.

House was so taken aback by the extent of the damage, he was afraid to even touch the Doctor, whose torso was colorful with bruises. The colors in question were black, blue, purple, green and a really ugly color of yellow. The discoloration stopped, for the most part, at his chest. His collar, however, was red and bruised on the left side.

"What were you doing when this happened?" House cried.

"Why does it matter _how_ it happened?" The Doctor asked. "It _did_ happen, that's what matters."

"Remember what I said about calling the shots?"

The Doctor sighed, annoyed. "Look, here's what happened…"

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Jack knew Rose was extremely worried about the Doctor; she was pacing again. In fact, Jack was beginning to think she had actually picked up pacing from the Doctor, because they did it identically. It was sort of cute, when he thought about it.

"You know, I haven't even seen him myself," Rose said, partly to herself and partly to whoever happened to be listening. "I don't even know the extent of the damage."

"Neither have I," Jack said, in an attempt to comfort her.

"How did we let him get like this?" She asked, wringing her hands. "It happened two nights ago…and now he can barely walk!"

Jack stood up and put his hands on her shoulders to stop the incessant pacing. "Rose? Listen. It's okay. If the Doctor had been in any more pain then he is in now, he would have told us."

Rose blinked away a tear. "Jack, you _know_ he wouldn't have. You _know_ that he would have just kept going." She sniffed. "He's probably got broken bones, and a fever, and some kind of alien flu from Satellite 5 or something, and all that time we just stood around, doing nothing. He could be near death and he wouldn't have said a word. That's the way he is, Jack! That's the way he is!" And with that she heaved Jack towards her and began crying into his shoulder

Jack, without blinking an eye, pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. "Its okay, Rose. Shhh. It's all right."

Cameron, who had watched all of this, felt as though her heart was ripping in two. She caught Chase's eye and told him to say something- anything. Chase took a second before standing up.

"Miss Tyler?"

Rose sniffled and looked at Chase, disgruntled. "Mmm, what do you want?"

Chase sighed. "I know I haven't been the most…er…supportive of your…visit, but I do have to say that, honestly, if the…em…Doctor," He said it like it was a different language, "Is with House, then he's in the best care he could be in, probably, in the state."

"I'll hope so," Jack said. "We had a choice of every doctor, on any planet, in any century."

Chase opened his mouth without any intention of saying anything.

Rose smiled, weakly. "Of all the bloody millenniums to stop in, I picked this one," she said. Chase hoped she was joking.

Cameron stood up. "Miss Tyler, I know that you're very upset about this, but I can reassure you that the Doctor is in the greatest of care."

Rose was silent for a moment, but then spoke in a voice barely above a whisper. "I just…I don't want him to be…One time, we landed the TARDIS in Utah, but it was in the future…and the man there _did_ things to him. Tortured him," she said, her voice becoming wobbly. "It was horrible. And now that we're here, I just…"

"I understand," Cameron said.

"Thanks," Rose said.

"She's a bit of a control freak," Jack said, trying to lighten the moment.

Rose punched him lightly in the arm. "Yeah, I guess I am."

Cameron nodded. "Of course. I'm so sorry to learn that something terrible like that happened in this country, even if it was in the future." She swallowed. "Dr. House does seem a little rough around the edges, doesn't he?"

Cameron wanted to hear more about Rose Tyler's exploits, but she thought that, at the present time, it would be inappropriate. She picked up the clipboard.

"I know you probably don't want to talk about it right now- and that's fine- but we do need to know exactly how this happened, for the record sheet. Care to tell us?"

Rose froze where she was for a millisecond. Then, she nodded her head. "Okay. I think I can."

----------------------- ------------------------- ------------------------

By the time the Doctor had finished telling House what had happened, he had flipped over so that he was lying on his stomach.

"…And that's how I got this way." He paused. "I think."

House looked skeptical. "Lemme get this straight, alright? You had parked- no _landed_- the TARDIS thingy somewhere on a planet I've never heard of, and you step out and fall down a hill."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes."

"That's _it_?"

"…Yes…"

"Are you sure?"

The Doctor seemed puzzled. "Yes! What kind of question is that?"

Dr. House a tisked. "Everybody lies, dude. The only variables are…well, I told you already." At last, he stopped poking at the Doctor. "So, if I ask say…Jack Harkness, he would say the same thing?"

"No, wasn't there, he wouldn't know."

House stopped examining. "Wait, what?"

"We had already…erm… let Jack off in the capital of that planet- it's called Rochester, by the way- the planet, not the capital- because he had business to do…we didn't see him until the next day."

House chose to ignore the fact that the Doctor seemed to be making up the story. "How long ago did all this happen?" He asked, motioning to the Doctor's damaged backside.

"Two nights ago, I suppose."

"Good lord! You should've seen someone earlier."

The Doctor frowned.

House continued. "Alright, well, it look to me as though you've done a lot more than take a trip down a hill, but since there's a lot I don't know about you, so I'll let that slide. You have, however, broken just about every rib you've got to break- great job- but that still leaves some of the pain and bruising unanswered. . So, I'm going to take an X-ray of your ribs and we'll go from there."

"X-Ray?" The Doctor had a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Yes…is there a problem?"

He thought for a moment. "No, I guess not. There's no problem. Sorry, just kidding."

"Well, I'm calling down there to see if it's in use right now. But don't worry; it'll be fun!" He said, before stalking off towards the phone. "You can put your shirt on now. I mean, _really_, how indecent."

----------------------- ------------------------- ------------------------

"Alright," Rose said. She watched Cameron put the pen to the paper, ready to write down whatever she said. "Two nights ago, like I said, we were on this planet called Rochester, and there were…"

Jack butted in, "To make a long story short, we saved the planet."

"Fair enough," Rose said. "Anyhow, in 'celebration', the brilliant Captain Jack here went out and bought us two bottles of some kind of alcoholic drink. Now, mind you, it's from a different planet, so I'm still not sure as to what exactly was in it. Never really thought to read the ingredients," she said, laughing.

"Right," Cameron replied. "Foreign liquor, celebration, saved the planet. Gotcha."

"That's not all, though," said Rose. "We started drinking…in _honor_, of course, and after an hour or two, you," she said, referring to Jack, "left, and it was just us. Of course, we didn't notice that until long after you were gone,"

"…Being as completely inebriated as you were," Foreman said. Rose and Jack both glared at him.

"But yes, he's right; we were," said Rose. "And when we realized he was gone, the Doctor started off to find him. He took one step out of the TARDIS and Bam! Lost his footing and rolled down the hill." She started to laugh, embarrassed. "At the time, it was hilarious, actually."

"Ah, I see," Cameron said, writing the last bit down, about how it was hilarious. "Well, thank you for telling us. It really makes a difference as to how we approach the diagnosis."

At that moment, Dr. House opened the conference room door.

"Alright, here's the deal," he said. "An X-ray room is open on the 5th floor. However, that means we have to go up, and the man on the table in there? He's not going anywhere. Not without a wheelchair, anyway, and you can't take wheelchairs up stairs. I'm not even going to _try_. We're going to have to wait until the elevators start working again, which, according to Dr. Cuddy will be in a few minutes. Which translates into…"

"Thirty minutes," Chase said, deflated.

"Amazingly, that's correct, Chase," House said. "Cuddy's on doctor- time the whole day."

He motioned them all back into the conference room and told them to sit down and make themselves comfy.

"All we can do is wait," House said. "It won't be too long."

And that's what they did. Painstakingly, for nearly 25 minutes, all seven of them waited in awkward silence.

That is, until Dr. Wilson showed up…

**A/N: Okay, I** **_know_** **Rose's and the Doctor's stories don't match up…it's supposed to be like that. If the two stories were both the same, well, that wouldn't be an interesting story, would it be? I think not.**

**Anyway, folks, that's all for now. Wilson always brings something new to the story. And he will next chapter, I can tell you that.**

**Leave a comment if you love me! (Or, for that matter, if you have a question or complaint or compliment, etcetera, etcetera…)**


	5. Ring, Ring Merrily, Dr Wilson

**Hey guys! Listen, I can't believe I've forgotten to do this, but I'd really like to thank _Uh. yeah_ for her beta work. Without her, this fic would probably be unbelievably American. (And if I'm going to write about the Brits, I'm gonna do it right, dammit!)**

**So, anyway, on with the show.**

Because no one in Conference Room 5 was speaking, the smallest of noises from everywhere in the hospital could be heard. From the traffic on the nearby highway, to the couple arguing on the floor below that was carried through the ventilation system, to the nurse calling the next patient in to the clinic rooms to…alas! The ring of a bell as the elevator reached its desired floor.

Because the bell _did_ ring. And everyone knew it.

"Did you hear that?" Foreman said, looking at Chase. "Was that the…?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Sounded like the…" and with that he, Rose, Jack and Cameron took off out the door, stopping once they reached the hallway. There was another dinging noise, and, who should step out of the elevator but James Wilson, the one and only.

"Shit," mouthed Cameron. (Chase mouthed a much more profane word.) Wilson, however, was too distracted by the sight of Rose and Jack to notice.

His brow furrowed as he strolled towards them, hands in pockets. "I was told by Dr. Cuddy to come tell House the elevators are working. She also told me to tell him that if he complains about them again, he can pay for the repairs himself."

Wilson chuckled; no one else did. "Something wrong?" He asked, after he realized he was laughing alone.

"Oh, us?" Cameron asked. "Um…no, nothing's wrong," she shrugged. "Oh, wait a moment," she said, and cleared her throat. "Dr. Wilson, this is one of our…this is…a friend of Dr. House's current patient, Rose Tyler."

Wilson stuck his hand out to shake it, and Rose, whose arms were crossed, did.

"… And this is Jack Harkness."

Jack shook Wilson's hand warmly, his eyes twinkling. "Nice to meet you, James Wilson."

"So, House is with a patient?" Wilson asked, tearing his eyes away from the strange and slightly dazed look Jack was giving him.

"Yeah, but…" Chase started to say.

"Does he need a consult?"

"You know, I don't really know if he does," Cameron said, laughing nervously.

Wilson blinked at her. "Can I at least ask where the patient is?"

"Conference Room 5, but I don't know if you should go in just yet…"

"All of the clinic rooms were taken," Rose interjected. Wilson was obviously caught off-guard by her accent.

"Well, I'll go and see him myself, then," he said.

"You know, based on the patient's current condition, going in is probably not a good idea," Chase stuttered. He and Cameron had both moved towards the door, guarding it, incase Wilson decided to jump them.

Wilson didn't understand. "Why not?" He looked at Cameron. "C'mon, guys, seriously, what are you hiding?"

"Hiding?" Cameron asked, a little too loudly. "We're not hiding anything!" It was clear that she was trying to let the Doctor and House know someone unwelcome was trying to get in the conference room.

Wilson frowned and made a lunge for the door handle, but just as he did, the door opened and House emerged.

"Ah, Dr. Wilson," he said.

Wilson was not amused. "House, what in the hell is going on? What are you doing in there?"

House looked completely puzzled. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said. Then, a look of realization dawned on his face. "Oh, unless you're referring to the alien that's lying on the table in there." He watched as Rose's eyes widen and her mouth drop open, while Jack's hand plunged into his pocket. The screwdriver pocket, that is.

"Woah, there, Sparky," House said, stopping Jack. "No need to get drastic. This is Wilson we're talking about. We can trust him."

Wilson was frowning. "Alien on the table? Let's see," he said, stroking his chin as if he had a goatee. "Last time you said something like that, you were trying to hide the fact that a colony of bees had formed a hive in the Cancer Registry room. You told me I couldn't go in because you didn't want me to disturb your marijuana plants." He looked at Cameron, hoping to get an honest response. "Is there any illegal vegetation in this room?"

"No," Cameron said. "But, still, Dr. Wilson, please, for privacy's sake, just don't…"

But it was too late; Wilson had opened the door.

Both the Doctor and Foreman's heads snapped in the direction of the door when they heard it open. Leading the pack was Wilson, whose look was completely nondescript as he saw the man lying on the table. He had seen many things that had been the product of Gregory House in his day, so a man on a table was no surprise.

"Alien?" Wilson asked House, gesturing to the Doctor. "Alien?"

"Who, me?" The Doctor said. "Well, possibly…"

"The jig is up!" House exclaimed. Foreman closed his eyes out of pure embarrassment. "Doctor, meet James Wilson. Wilson, this is the Doctor. He's an alien."

Wilson just looked at House.

House defended himself. "He told me so!"

"That's usually not the first thing I tell people!" The Doctor said. "That I'm an alien, I mean. But I don't really care, I suppose. Unless Dr. Wilson goes and tells everyone in the whole bloody hospital."

Wilson ran a hand through his hair. "Um, Dr. House? I think this man belongs with the psychologists, not the Infectious Disease…"

"No, he doesn't," Jack said. "He's telling the truth."

Wilson looked around at everyone in the room. "You're all insane!" He turned to Rose and asked, sarcastically, "And you, are you an alien, too?"

Rose lurched forward; ready to beet the pulp out of Dr. Wilson. Luckily, Jack caught her.

"Can't we all just get along?" Jack asked as he tried to suppress the struggling Rose.

"Sorry to divert the attention everything," the Doctor said, "but I'm beginning to feel like I'm going to pass out…"

"Oh, it's not _always_ about you," House snapped. He turned so that he was facing the Doctor. "Now, about him. He's too proud for a wheelchair, I can tell you that right now."

The Doctor said nothing.

"…So, I guess that means Rose and Jack'll have to help him up and into the elevator. Foreman, Chase and Cameron, go secure an X-ray room. Wilson, you're coming with me and the Doctor."

Wilson looked at House like he had something crawling out of his nose. "You can't be serious, can you?" He asked. "This man…this Doctor…is totally out of his mind!"

House limped over to the door. "You know, Wilson, I don't know what to think. Honestly, I don't. But I do know that the Doctor-" He looked at the Doctor- "If that _is_ your real name, has pretty serious injuries and he needs an X-ray. We can deal with the psychological aspects later." House looked around and saw that no one else was moving. "What, do I need to wave a flag? Get going!"

Rose and Jack went over to help the Doctor off the table while the Ducklings left the room. Wilson just stood there, shaking his head.

"Oh, God," House said, rolling his eyes. "Come on, Wilson, I'll explain it on the way up."

"…So, it travels through both time _and_ space?" Wilson asked as the doors opened. He watched the Doctor carefully, genuinely interested in what he was saying.

The Doctor nodded his head liberally, and walked out of the elevator with the assistance of Jack and Rose.

"But don't _all_ time machines do that?"

The Doctor was having an unusual amount of patience with Wilson, especially for how badly they had been getting along just minutes before. In the elevator, the Doctor had explained his situation, and Wilson told him that he was a huge Sci-Fi geek; it was kind of his 'inner passion.' The two had hit it off almost immediately after that.

"When I say 'space' I don't mean 'space'," the Doctor clarified. "I mean _space_. Other planets, other galaxies, other solar systems, stars, nebulas…_as well_ as time.

Wilson was in awe. "So, you can go to any planet…Neptune, Pluto, in…say, 1900, at the drop of a hat?"

The Doctor, despite the stinging it caused, laughed. "Neptune? Pluto? Ha! I could go _anywhere_…don't you understand? Any. Where. I'm completely limitless. Well, _virtually_ limitless."

Wilson shook his head in disbelief. "Wow."

House instructed Rose to turn the corner and go in the first room on the left. The door was heavy and had a huge sticker on it that said: **Caution: Radiation**. Jack ignored the sign and opened the door, where the Ducklings greeted him and prepped the Doctor for the X-ray. While all this was going on, Wilson and House waited outside the room.

"I don't know what to think," Wilson said, finally. He was still mulling over the information the Doctor had just given him. "I mean, on any other day of the week, I'd just go take a cold shower and a nap and forget about the whole thing."

"If they are lying, they're damn convincing," House said.

"Yeah. Moreover, they've got _you_ convinced."

House frowned. "I told you, I don't know what I'm supposed to believe."

Wilson started laughing.

"What?" House asked.

Wilson popped his knuckles while he spoke. "I just noticed, you've been really…mellow, this whole time. Usually you're a lot more…"

"Sarcastic?"

"I was going to say something about being an asshole, but yeah, I guess you've also been less sarcastic."

"Don't get used to it," House warned him without looking at him.

"Why is that?" Wilson goaded. "Why have these 'new visitors' brought you to a new state of-"

"I just have a lot on my mind," House said quickly. "I'm still not sure about the whole 'time-traveling alien' gimmick, but I do know the Doctor is lying about his story. About how he got hurt. It doesn't make any sense."

"Really, now," Wilson said.

"Mmhm. _He_ said he rolled down a hill, but _my_ copious medical knowledge tells me otherwise."

"But why would he lie?"

"Ha!" House said. "You ask me that as if I know."

"You don't?"

House stuttered. "I just…um…I-"

Wilson chuckled. "You don't know, do you?"

House grunted.

"Dude, you just painted yourself into a corner."

At that moment, Cameron and Foreman emerged from the room. House's eyes got big.

"You left Chase in there…alone…to do the X-ray?"

Cameron frowned. "We were nearly done, alright? He can do it by himself."

"Someone needs to keep an eye on him," House said. "I'm not so sure about…"

Foreman nodded. "I asked Mr. Harkness to. He's capable, I'm sure. If anything gets out of hand, he'll handle it."

"Oh, by the way, Dr. House," Cameron said, shuffling through the papers on her clipboard, "I asked Miss Tyler to tell us what happened. She did, I wrote it down…"

But House had already snatched the paper away from her with a triumphant "Aha! Thank you, Cameron."

"Do you need me to get a family history?"

House didn't even want to think about trying to pry out a family history from the Doctor. "Not yet," he said, distractedly, as he read what Cameron had written down.

Wilson watched as House's eyes scanned the paper hastily, until they stopped moving. "What?" He read on. "They _what_?"

"I swear, that's exactly what Rose told me. Nearly verbatim!"

"I don't doubt that," House said. He shoved the clipboard in Wilson's face. "What did I tell you, what did I tell you? He's lying, just like I said."

"Who is?" Foreman asked. "The Doctor?"

House walked farther down the hallway, creating 'creativity space' between him and his colleagues. He nodded and said, "I asked him what happened as well. He told me he fell down a hill."

"No, no, it says that in here, too," Wilson pointed out. "Just because he left out the part about being drunk, that doesn't mean he's lying."

"Yes it does!" House said. "It does, it _so_ does. He told me he had just landed the TAR…Tar…"

"TARDIS," Wilson said.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," House said. "He failed to mention they had been on the planet for hours." House thought for a moment. "Also! House said they had dropped Jack off at the capital earlier that day. According to Rose, Jack was with them until after they had started drinking."

"That's right," Wilson said. "Hmm…one of them _is_ lying."

"I think _both_ of them are lying," House said. "The Doctor is lying the most, certainly, but both of them are leaving something out. There's something going on there that they're not telling us, and it has to do with how the Doctor got injured. He's way too beaten up to have only rolled down a hill." He paused. "It looks more like he fell down a flight of stairs."

"What?" Foreman asked. "But why would he lie about that?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," House snapped. At that moment, Chase, Rose, Jack and the Doctor stepped out of the room.

"All done," Chase said. "Now, more waiting."

­­

**A/N:** I tried to work on the House snark, I swear! I watched a few episodes, but I don't know how much good it did. Eventually, though, I'll get into the swing of things. Plus, House has a lot on his mind, you know? A lot to mull over. He can't be expected to be rude ALL of the time.

Well, he probably can. But never mind.

Thanks, and please review!


	6. Can't think of a clever name :

Okay, I really did my research for this episode, and so it SHOULD be correct. Alert me if it isn't, please and thank you.

About an hour later, Drs. Foreman, House, Cameron, Wilson and Chase gathered around the X-ray of the Doctor's chest.

"You were right, House," said Cameron. "Every rib, broken. Cracked in some form or another."

House nodded. "Yep, I was. That shouldn't surprise you."

"It didn't," Wilson said, deadpan.

House began bickering with Wilson. The Ducklings, however, were still staring at the X-ray.

"Dr. House, what's that?" Foreman asked, using his pen to point at a faint lump on the X-ray.

House came over to look at it. "His heart," he said.

Cameron detected a hint uncertainty in his reply. She clicked her tongue, thinking. "No, that can't be, it's on the wrong side."

"I know that," snapped House.

"No, no," Chase said. "You're both wrong. _That's_ his heart," and he pointed at an identical faint bump on the other side of the chest.

"Oh. Yeah. Sure." House scowled. "Chase was right _twice_ today! Call him butter, cuz he's on a roll!"

"The machine must be broken," said Foreman, ignoring House. "It's copying itself. How strange…" and he sort of trailed off. "But that's _too_ strange. It wouldn't make an error like that, even if it _was_ broken."

"No, that makes sense, Foreman," said Cameron. "Look, there's an extra rib on both sides." She looked at the X-ray in fascination. "That is _so_ weird!"

"It's his lung?" Wilson asked, getting the group back on track.

"Maybe," Cameron said. "Yeah, it's…wait…no, his lungs are right there," she used her thumb and forefinger to point at the lungs.

"The machine _is_ broken!" Chase said. "That means the whole X-ray is probably wrong. And that means we'll have to wait until it's fixed, and that means…"

"Hush," House said, examining it. "No. It's not. It's just fine. If it were copying itself over, then the ribs on both sides would match, and they don't, obviously."

Wilson chuckled. "Are you really saying that the Doctor has _two_ hearts?" He sounded skeptical.

"Yes, Dr. Wilson," House smiled thoughtfully. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

Wilson took a step towards the X-ray and then fainted, dead away, right to the floor. House and the Ducklings did nothing for a second looking at him in horror.

"Well," House said, clapping his hands. "I think we owe the Doctor a little visit."

"Are you sure you're comfortable?" Rose asked the Doctor, who was lying in a hospital bed, on top of the sheets. She fluffed his pillow.

"Yes, actually," the Doctor said. "This is the most comfortable I've been all day. Next to the table, I mean."

"Maybe if you got, you know, _inside_ the bed," Jack suggested. "Like normal people do when they try to sleep?"

"Nah," the Doctor replied. "I'm not normal anyway; why start now?"

At that moment, House barged in the door of the room.

"Why didn't you tell us you had two hearts?" He cried.

"Oops."

"You have two hearts?" Jack asked. His eyes were as wide as saucers. "Cuz, I mean, that's perfectly fine with me, but it is kind of a shocker when you first learn…"

"I'm talking here," House said to Jack. He turned back to the Doctor and Rose. "Wilson just fainted when we looked at the X-ray, and…"

Rose giggled. "Ahem," she said, once she felt House's glare on her. "I'm sorry, it's just a little funny."

"...Funny that a 20 year old girl has a stronger stomach then Wilson," the Doctor said. Rose punched him in the arm lightly.

"That was not what I was going to say!" Rose said. "But yeah, that's kind of what I meant."

House rubbed his face with his free hand. "You all are completely unbelievable."

"You're one to talk!" The Doctor exclaimed.

"I'm calling the shots here," House said. "Remember? And as long as that is, you have to level the playing field. Your life could possibly be in my hands here, and usually I don't like to meet patients for that exact reason."

"Alright, alright," the Doctor said. "Sorry. It's just not exactly the first thing you think of when you've been around for 900 years. You don't meet people and say, 'by the way, I've got two hearts. Hope you don't mind.' When you meet the people I have, it just sort of gets lost in all of the other information." The Doctor stopped. "Besides, its no one's business but my own."

House looked exasperated. "Well, now it's mine, too. There are certain things you _need_ to tell people," he explained, calmly. "Now. Is there anything else we should know about before we begin treatment?"

"Besides the thing about being 900 years old? That's approximate, by the way."

House nodded wearily. "Yes, besides that."

"I don't…well, yeah, actually, there is. This is important: Don't give me any pain medication. It might kill me." The Doctor nodded matter-of-factly. "Not even aspirin."

House's raised his eyebrows. "Oh." He said. "I see."

"Oh, AND…I've got…well...for every organ you have one of, I have two of. And for every organ you've got two of, I've got four of."

House just looked at him.

"And there's probably more; I can't remember what exactly. But when I _do_ remember, you'll be the first to know."

House continued to look at him. His brain just couldn't absorb any more information that day.

"Sorry, again. My apologies."

House didn't move for a moment. Then, he rubbed his face again and left the room.

"What a charming man," the Doctor said, grinning.

Over the course of that day, the Doctor was looked over by House and Wilson once more, who reported that his ankle was broken, as well as his collarbone.

"He really banged himself up," Cameron explained to Jack and Rose, at about 7:00 that night. "He's going to need bed rest, and lots of it. Not to mention some breathing exercises, but I'm sure he can handle it."

"How long is the whole process going to take?" Jack asked. He put his arm around Rose.

"I…um…well… don't hate me," Cameron pleaded. "But, two weeks. Give or take."

"Two weeks? We can't wait that long!"

"Wait," Rose said. "Yes, we can. We have all the time in the world, as long as the Doctor is going to get better. He is, isn't he?"

Cameron nodded. "Well, at least, we _think_ so. If he breaks bones like a human, he should heal like a human. How long the process take may be altered slightly, but, eventually, he'll be as good as new." She paused. "Well, maybe not new, seeing as he's nearly 10 centuries old. But as good as when you left him."

Rose actually cracked a smile. "Alright. Good. Thank you, Dr. Cameron."

Dr. Cameron turned to walk away, but stopped. "You know what? Call me Allison."

Rose nodded, and Cameron smiled and walked away.

At around 10:00 that night, Rose and Jack, with the grace of Dr. House and Wilson, went into the Doctor's hospital room for the first time in hours.

"Ah!" Rose laughed. "I see they managed to get you into a hospital gown."

The Doctor pulled a face. "Yes. Against my will, mind you."

"Cameron said they're going to keep you for two weeks," Jack said.

"Oh, we're calling her Cameron, now?" Rose said, cocking an eyebrow.

The Doctor smiled before he spoke. "I know," he said. "And as long as that's true, you two are going to need your rest. It's 10:00, go to the TARDIS, and get some sleep."

"You don't want us to stay here?" Rose asked.

"And do what?" He chuckled. "Get some coffee, watch me sleep, annoy Dr. Chase? That's not very productive. Fun, yes, but not productive."

"Okay, we see your point," Rose said, and stopped for a moment, not sure what to do. She looked at his face, biting her lip. "Well, I guess we're off, then."

"Yep," the Doctor said cheerily. "See you in the mornin'."

Jack and Rose left the room in silence. They made it half way down the hallway before Rose turned around.

"I can't believe it," she said, looking longingly down the hall. "He's saved my life at least a dozen times," she said. She looked at Jack. "…And yours once, but here I am, runnin' away when he needs me the most. We should do something."

Jack put a hand on her shoulder. "Rose, sweetheart, there's nothing we _can_ do, except catch a few Z's. He's asleep, Dr. House is probably asleep, and so we're going to sleep. He's being monitored; nothing bad is going to happen to him."

Rose groaned and, half -heartedly, trudged down the hallway, looking back over her shoulder every few seconds.

As soon as she and Jack reached the TARDIS, the beginnings of a thunderstorm had started. Jack said nothing to Rose for the rest of the evening...in fact, as soon as they reached the interior, Rose went off to bed without a word, leaving Jack in the console room by himself. He decided not to bother her, and went to his bedroom shortly thereafter.

It took Rose forever to get to sleep. She didn't remember drifting off, but she knew she must have, because at 3:01 there was a clash of thunder so loud that the TARDIS rocked back and forth. Rose, who was not a light sleeper at all, woke up. She got out of bed and looked out the window in her room, where she saw Princeton-Plainsboro- all the lights were still on.

Suddenly, without warning, something pulled at her stomach. Rose nearly doubled over, but caught herself on the table by the window. It pulled her again, like an invisible thread was tied to her stomach. Suddenly, only one thought was in her head: '_Go to the Doctor, Go to the Doctor_.'

And so she did.

Without a moment's hesitation, she slipped on her shoes and grabbed a jacket, pulling it on as she ran out the door of her room. She hoped Jack didn't hear her, or, if he did, didn't come after her, because there was no way she was turning around. The thread pulled her and pulled her, across the street and out of the ally, across the courtyard and into PPTH.

The lobby was empty, except a few people asleep in chairs, waiting for their loved ones. Rose ran past them without a second glance and jogged all the way to the Doctors room, her shoes squeaking all the way. She didn't even think to knock before entering the room, but once she did, she leaned back on the door and closed it, trying to make as little noise as possible.

"Rose?" a voice said. It was the Doctors.

"You're awake?" Rose said. She noticed his voice didn't sound groggy at all. "For how long?"

"Not long. Half an hour, maybe. How did you know I was?"

Rose stopped. "I just…did."

All of a sudden, Rose realized she couldn't hold it in any longer. Tears began to roll down her cheeks in waterfalls, and she used the sleeve of her jacket to dry them. The Doctor could only see Rose's silhouette, but he didn't even have to look at her to know she was crying.

"Oh, Rose…"

"No, stop," she said. She was blubbering already. "This is not about you, it's about me, and how this whole thing is my fault."

"Rose Tyler, this is _hardly_ your fault."

"No, it is my fault, Doctor, and just shut up and let me take the blame." She sniffed loudly. "I was afraid of this."

The Doctor cracked a smile. "It's kind of amusing, you know? To think that I've been through all sorts of things with you, and I end up in a 21st Century hospital because we-"

"Did something so meaningless," Rose finished. "I know how you feel."

"_Not_ meaningless. Simple, was what I was going to say. Something so simple."

Rose continued to dry her tears. "Well, at least you feel that way. I just feel stupid." She walked towards the bed.

"No, what we _did_ was stupid. You're not stupid- you're human."

"I know, I know," she said. "I have needs, feelings, etcetera. But you know what?"

The Doctor shook his head.

"I think you do, too. You're not that inhuman." She smiled. "You're more like me than you know."

The Doctor looked at her for a moment in a way she couldn't articulate. "Would it make you feel any better if I scolded you and told you it was your fault?"

Rose sniveled. "Maybe."

The Doctor was quiet. "Well, I don't think I can do that."

"What if I apologized?"

"That would be good."

"Alright." She paused. "I am so, so, so, so, so unbelievably sorry for this."

"S' all right," the Doctor said, taking her hand for the second time that day. He met her eyes and looked into them for a moment. He smiled slightly. "Now, you really have to go," he said, and dropped her hand. "Sleep. I'll see you again in a few hours."

Rose's smile faded. She nodded quickly and turned around, looking back at him as she left. The Doctor watched her leave until she was out of sight. He closed his eyes to mull over what had just happened, but found him self drifting off to sleep.

As she made her way down the corridor, there was a loud crash of thunder and the crack of lightning. Usually, Rose would have grimaced or cringed, but instead, a half-smile played on her lips.

"The Oncoming Storm," she said to herself.

And maybe, she thought, it was just her brain playing tricks on her, or the fact that she was massively sleep-deprived, but she smiled all the way out of the hospital and into the TARDIS. Because, somehow, she knew everything would be okay.

**A/N**: **This is NOT the end of the story! It gets better… well, I think so, anyway**.

**Hey, before you click that button, I just want to say something really quickly: **

**I know I haven't replied to everyone who reviews this story, and I really want to apologize for that! It's really important to me that I contact everyone who replies to my story, because you totally deserve it. You all are very important to me, I mean, sososo important, I can't even explain. You pick up my slack!**

**So, to those of you I haven't personally replied to: **

**_All_ of you, thank you! I love you, and I love you for replying, and reply again, because you are wonderful, beautiful people who deserve to be contacted. I would hug you all if I had the chance. Sorry for not saying something before! **

**Thanks again!**


	7. Chat in the Cafeteria

Rose was furious when she woke up to see he clock blinking 6:46 at her. She jumped out of bed and ran into the hallway to where Jack slept, yelling profanities all the way. She didn't knock before entering.

"Jack! Jack, wake up!" She shook him and he rolled over in bed to face her.

"Hmm…wha? Go away," he told her.

"Jack, what time does your watch say?"

Jack realized that he had fallen asleep fully dressed. "9:30," he replied.

Rose let out a screech in her frustration. "Did you unplug my alarm clock?"

"Possibly," came his muffled reply.

"Why?" she demanded.

He rolled over again. "Well, god, Rose, it only went off for about 10 minutes. And it was early- I didn't want to get up."

Rose frowned. "So you unplugged my alarm clock and let me sleep?"

"Yeah."

She let out another shriek and grabbed one of the pillows off the bed, hitting him with it, hard. "I can't believe you!" She went back into her room and changed, screaming at Jack the whole time for being 'insensible' and 'heartless' towards the Doctor and 'his current condition.' Jack groaned and sat up in bed, finally deciding to change into a new day's clothes.

It was still stormy when they left the TARDIS that morning, which, despite her optimistic thinking the previous night, made Rose feel a little glum. They both jogged across the street and courtyard, into the hospital. As they approached the Doctor's room, Rose thought she could hear voices.

"Whaddaya mean, 'he's almost healed'?" Both Jack and she heard House's voice as they neared the hallway.

"I mean 'he's almost healed'!" said Foreman. "We took a follow-up X-ray and his ribs are almost…"

"That's impossible," said House. "How is that possible? It's impossible. Impossible!"

"Take a look yourself," Chase said, indicating the room the X-ray was in.

Rose and Jack had finally joined them.

"What's up?" she asked briskly.

"You!" House ordered. "You're _sure_ all of this happened just three days ago?"

"Well, yeah, he fell three nights ago, yeah," Rose said, looking less scathing than puzzled. "What's the problem?"

"No problem," Foreman said, half-smiling. "The Doctor's doing great, in fact."

"Really?" Rose asked hopefully.

"Too great, I'm afraid," Cameron said. She saw Rose look disappointed. "But in a good way, I mean. He's healing _very_ quickly, and we're just wondering why that is."

Rose didn't have a clue. "I dunno," she replied honestly.

"How quickly is 'very quickly'?" Jack asked.

"Well, ribs usually take _at least_ a week and a half to heal, if you're lucky," Foreman explained. "And if you take all the proper procedures…"

Chase butt in. "The Doctor's only had 1 day of bed-rest and he's at the same stage as a patient that's been resting for 8 days."

"That's not normal," Foreman said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," House said, leaning forward on his cane. "There are a lot of things that aren't normal about the Doctor. This is just an…addition to the list."

Rose tried to ignore House's last comment. "So, he'll be alright to go, then? Soon?"

"_Probably_," Foreman said, elongating the word. "But we want to observe him for a while."

"Now, wait, I won't have him being 'observed,'" Rose said testily. "He's not a lab rat."

"Not like that," Cameron said quickly. "Lord, no. We're just keeping track of him, so we can put it in his file…"

"Which you will burn as soon as we're done here?" Jack finished for her.

"Yes, yes," Cameron said. "Of course."

"Well, that's wonderful news," Rose said. "Can I go in and see him?"

"Not right now, actually," Chase said. "He's sleeping. For the first time in hours, too. He kept waking up during the night."

Rose's smiled faltered just slightly. "Oh. Well. I think I'll get some breakfast then, eh, Jack?"

He agreed and nodded in thanks at the doctors, before walking off down the hallway with Rose.

Cameron watched leave, thinking. "Foreman, Chase, you don't need my help for the time-being, do you?"

The both shook their heads.

"Where are _you_ going?" House asked.

"No where," Cameron said, smiling. "Just have to ask Miss Tyler a few questions. Be back in a flash." She handed her clipboard to Chase and sped off down the hallway, right behind Rose.

Rose didn't wait for Jack- she began eating as soon as she sat down, tearing open a small box of cereal and adding milk from a plastic bottle. She was munching it happily and reading the newspaper when she saw Dr. Cameron out of the corner of her eye.

Warily, she waved at her. "Hey," Rose said, borderline cheerily. "What's the matter?"

"Oh, nothing," Cameron said, smiling. "Can I sit down?"

Rose looked over at Jack, who was fiddling around with the ice dispenser. "Sure," she said. Cameron pulled the chair out and sat down, taking her glasses off and pocketing them.

"How have you been?" Cameron asked.

"Er…just fine," Rose replied.

"I mean, I know it must be difficult for you."

"I suppose," Rose said.

The sat in silence for a few seconds.

"Why did you really come to see me?" Rose asked, folding and re-folding her napkin. She looked around for Jack, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Oh, fine," Cameron sighed. "I need to ask you another question."

Rose suddenly had a hard time swallowing her food. "Um…go ahead."

Cameron looked Rose in the eyes. "Did you see the Doctor yesterday night?"

Rose winced. "Yes."

Cameron sat back in her chair. "Alright."

Rose was confused. "That's all? I'm not going to get in trouble?"

"Nope," said Cameron, smiling. "I just figured you did, so I decided to ask. No biggie."

"How'd you know?"

"He slept for a few hours and then he woke up, and after that he had lots of trouble getting back to sleep. He'd fall in and out of it, and I just…didn't know if maybe you had something to do with that."

"Oh, great, he didn't get any sleep because of me. Brilliant."

"Well, maybe you just have that effect on men," Cameron suggested. Rose laughed.

"Ha, I wish."

Rose's laughing died, and Cameron decided to be bold. "Care to tell me a little about yourself?" she asked. When Rose said nothing, Cameron added, "I just though…since… to make you feel a little at home, that I'd ask…"

"I know," Rose said. "It's fine. I was just planning my words."

"Oh." Cameron fell silent.

"Well, hi," Rose said, finally. She stuck out her hand for Cameron to shake. "I'm Rose Tyler, from London, England. This is my second visit to the USA."

"Second, really?" Cameron asked. "I've never been to Europe."

"We were in…oh, watsitcalled…Utah?"

Cameron nodded eagerly.

"Yeah, Utah, for a bit."

"Oh. That's fun."

"Well, it wasn't very fun." Her face fell. "It was quite traumatic, actually. But then, all my plights with the Doctor are, so I probably shouldn't be so surprised."

"If he's from a different planet, and you're from London, then, how did you two meet?"

Rose took a bite of her cereal. "You won't believe me…"

Cameron threw her head back and laughed. "I recently saw the X-ray of a man with two hearts. And you think I won't believe _you_?"

Rose smirked. "You've got a point, yeah. Well, I was 19 at the time…I'm 20 now, and I was working…" Rose went on to tell her about it. By the end of the story, Cameron's mouth was slightly agape.

"…And then he comes back and he says, 'Did I mention it travels in time?' or something like that, and I got in the TARDIS and I'm…well, the rest is history."

"That's amazing," Cameron said.

Rose sipped her tea."What's amazing is how long it's taking Jack to get his food."

"I gave up on him long ago," Cameron said. Rose laughed.

Cameron laughed, but became somber. "There's just one other thing…"

"What's that?" Rose said.

"I…uh…about your story…the hill one?" Cameron said. Rose nodded- she knew exactly what Cameron was talking about. "House doesn't believe it."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know, he… thinks you're lying."

"I'm not lying!" Rose looked around before asking, "Do you think I'm lying?"

"Me?" Cameron asked. "Well, not exactly…"

Rose raised her eyebrows inquisitively.

"Listen," Cameron said. "House asked the Doctor the same question we had asked you, by sheer coincidence, and his story was a little different than yours."

"How so?"

"He completely left out the part about drinking."

"Well, that doesn't mean he's lying, it mean's he's embarrassed," Rose said, shaking her head.

"That's what I think," Cameron said. "I understand." She paused. "But…is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"

Rose looked down at her food. "Well…well," she began. "Maybe there were some parts we, uh, omitted."

"Care to tell me?"

Rose looked unsure. "Will you tell House?"

"Not unless I find it vitally important…" Cameron saw Rose still looked uncertain. "So, probably not."

"Alright," Rose said. "I'll tell you, I swear. I just didn't want to say the whole truth in front of everyone else- Dr. Foreman, and Chase and Jack…"

At precisely that moment, Jack Harkness sat down next to Cameron; a Pepsi and a bag of Animal Crackers in his hands.

"You know," he said, ripping the bag open, "I was going to get some orange juice and a waffle, but the line was too long, and I wait for no man. Found a vending machine."

Both Cameron and Rose had taken very deep breaths in anticipation, and they both let them out at this moment.

Jack looked at them both. "Did I miss something?"

"Nope," Rose said quickly, taking a swig of tea."Not at all."

Cameron got up to leave. "So, Miss Tyler, we'll resume our little talk in Dr. House's office? At 2:00, lets say?"

Rose looked confused at first, but she suddenly understood what Cameron was trying to say. "Oh, of course, Dr. Cameron. Sure."

Cameron smiled, nodded at Jack, then turned and briskly walked out of the cafeteria.

"What was that all about?" Jack asked, still eating Animal Crackers.

"Nothin'," Rose said, shaking her head. "Nothin' you need to worry about."

**A/N: I know, I know- left ya hangin' again, did I? Won't cut to the chase, will I? Sorry about that, really, I feel your disappointment… But do leave a review. They're great ways to express your feelings, believe me; especially those feelings of deep and utter hatred for an author that drives you crazy. (Like moi.)**


	8. May Cause Drunken Giddyness

I've got a feeling that some of you have had a sneaking suspicion about what happens in this chapter the whole time. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, you're in for a surprise, to say the least.

I'll just let the chapter do the talking for me!

Rose was silent after Cameron left, mulling over exactly what she had gotten herself into. She wondered whether Cameron was trustworthy- or, trustworthy enough to tell something that had been plaguing Rose for a while now. She felt guilty, sure, but her need to talk was more overwhelming than the guilt. The need itself was worse at certain times than others- much worse- but Rose figured that was because of hormones…or some scientific alterations her body had gone through since being around the Doctor. She told herself it had to be one of those.

She watched as Jack ate every animal cracker, carefully biting off the head, then all it's legs, and then it's body. She decided it must be a routine he had acquired over a long time as it seemed like he became lost in thought, but still ate the cracker in the same order, every time.

"Why do you do that?" she finally asked.

Jack came out of his apparent trance. "Do what?"

"Bite off all of their little heads and legs…"

He looked confused. "I do what?"

Rose shook her head. "Never mind." She glanced at the clock- they had been in the cafeteria for an hour. "Oh, damn it.Jack, we should get back."

Rose discarded her bowl and plastic spoon, along with the crumpled bag of animal crackers Jack threw on her tray as soon as Rose stood up. They exited the cafeteria with Rose sipping her tea out of a Styrofoam cup, and Jack still drinking Pepsi.

"You seem really distracted," he told her casually.

"Do I?" Rose asked. "Can't imagine why." She didn't know quite why she had said that; she knew it had only roused Jack's suspicions.

He didn't even wait to respond- instead, he pounced. "What were you and Dr. Cameron talking about while I was gone?"

"Nothing," she said quickly. She did her best to seem puzzled. "None of your business." _Damn_, she thought. _Did it again!_

He stopped her, an odd expression, close to sorrow, on his face. "I'm really…disappointed, I guess, to know that you don't trust me enough to tell me."

Rose was taken aback, although, the more she thought about it, she had expected him to confront her eventually. "Jack! No, no, no. God, no. I trust you so much," she said, and looked him in the eyes. He appeared to be genuinely hurt. "I trusted you the moment I met you. You can ask the Doctor; he'll vouch for me."

Jack was not so easily persuaded. He crossed his arms. "If you trust me so much, why won't you tell me?"

Rose decided it was safe to continue walking at this point. "It's…um, a little embarrassing, actually."

Jack scowled. "Did Cameron hit on you? I knew it!" he blurted, without waiting for a response. "Well, I guess I can cross her off the list…"

Rose couldn't hide her grin. "No, no! Ha. She didn't, trust me. But, it does have to do with how the Doctor got the way he is. I think you only know half the story."

"…You mean besides the hill thing?"

Rose nodded. "You'll find out, though. Soon. Probably today."

Jack looked pleased.

"...But not now," she continued, chewing her lip. "Later."

**dwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdw**

When the pair finally reached the Doctor's hospital room, the Doctors were still bickering. Wilson stood apart from the group, but still listened intently.

"Any developments?" Jack asked, in an attempt to sound professional.

"If you call 'near-death' a development," House snapped.

Rose felt a swooping sensation. "What?"

"He's not dead," Chase said, throwing House a menacing glance, which was rare. "His body is slowing down, though, and that's, uh, odd, to say the least."

"Explain," Jack requested.

"Well, you know that he went to sleep eventually," Wilson interjected, speaking slowly. "Which isn't that strange, I know, but it's _how_ he's sleeping. His breathing is sporadic, his heart- yes, singular- is only beating once every 11 seconds, and his body temperature is below zero. If he were a human, he'd be…well, dead. Which proves once and for all that he's not."

Foreman smiled. "You weren't convinced by the hearts?"

Wilson uttered a very forced "ha."

"So…what now?" Said Rose, who did not look humorous. "Are you just going to leave him?"

Wilson decided to be perfectly honest. "We're not sure what to do," he said. "But the Doctor is healing up quickly, and we think that this 'sleep' he's in might be his body's way of helping itself recover."

Rose didn't react for a second. Slowly, she nodded. "Okay. Alright, I trust you." She turned to look at the man with the cane standing behind Wilson. "Dr. House, do you have anything to add?"

House raised his eyebrows and shook his head. "For the first time in my life, I am rendered speechless. But don't get used to it, cuz this is the first and last time."

"Well, what should we do now?" Jack said.

"Sit. Wait," House replied glumly. "Nothing you can do. Actually, there's nothing any of us can do, so I need to see The Ducklings," he motioned to Foreman, Chase and Cameron, "in my office, ASAP."

The Ducklings obliged and followed House. Wilson said he had work to get to and went off in the opposite direction. Rose and Jack sat down in the squishy chairs in a waiting area just down the hall from the Doctor's room. Jack had nearly fallen asleep by the time the Ducklings found them again.

"Rose," Cameron said urgently. Rose stood. "Listen, I'm sorry," Cameron said. "House said we have to do his Clinic duty hours or he'll fire us, so that means I'll have to delay our talk. He won't actually fire us, but…"

Rose shook her head. "What? No- I mean, I can't-"

"I know," Cameron said. "I'm as pissed as you, but I've _got_ to. Just till five o'clock, all right? Can you wait till then?"

Rose looked annoyed and disappointed, but nodded. Cameron patted her on the back and hurried off to join Foreman and Chase, who had already practically run down the hallway.

**dwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdw**

There was a gigantic clap of thunder and the hospital shuddered. Rose woke up with a start. "Oh, for god's sake," she muttered, realising that she had fallen asleep waiting. She jabbed Jack, also asleep, in the shoulder.

"What time is it?" she asked.

Jack rubbed his eyes, then looked at his wristwatch. "Um…five o'one."

"Seriously?" she asked. "We've been asleep all day! Wait, the Doctor…" Without warning, Rose grabbed Jack's wrist. They took off down the hallway.

"Nope," Jack said once they reached the room. "Still there. Still sleeping."

"Wait," said Rose. "Did you say it was past five o'clock?" Rose asked.

"Yep," Jack said, lifting his arm with his watch on it. "Why?"

But Rose had already taken off down the hallway, running.

**dwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdw**

"Am I late?" Rose asked. She was breathing heavily as she closed the door behind her.

"Just a bit," Cameron said, who was playing with a blue bouncy- ball. "I'll apologize again for having to take a rain check, but when House says do his Clinic hours, then…"

"You have to do the hours," Rose finished. "It's fine. I've known people like that." She inhaled through her nose and exhaled through her mouth, deeply. "Is this bloody rain ever gonna let up?"

"That's why I said 'rain check', actually," Cameron said, cracking a smile. Rose returned it. "You're breathing like you jogged here," Cameron continued, "but your eyes tell me you've been sleeping."

Rose's smile widened slightly. "You can read minds, too, then?"

Cameron almost laughed. "Well, no, but, I'm observant. I'm afraid I got that from House." She became suddenly very serious. "Sit down," she said, and pulled up a chair next to the one she was sitting in.

Rose did so, ready to take further directions.

"Now…do you think you can tell me what happened?"

Rose, never in a million years, thought that the most relieved she'd ever feel was at the mention of those words.

"Yes," she replied. "I am."

**dwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdw**

The TARDIS, three Days Earlier… 

"Jack, 'ow man of those have you 'ad?" Rose asked, in a very giddy tone. She turned to face Jack, who was downing another shot of vanilla- coloured liquor.

"What?" he said. "Sorry, you're going to have to pronounce the first consonants in the words you say, Rose."

Rose glared at him playfully. "You know damn well what I just said," she told him, purposefully over-enunciating.

"Four, then," he replied. "And yourself?"

"Seven!" she practically screamed, and then dissolved into giggles. The Doctor watched all this, a little disgusted.

He shook his head. "You should have never opened that bottle, Jack," he said reproachfully. "Rose is gonna have one hell of a hang over tomorrow. You are, too, actually."

"I feel great, come to think of it," Jack said, pouring some more of the liquid into a glass. "I guess I can hold my liquor better than she can."

"That stuff won't hit you until at least the sixth shot."

Jack shrugged and drank nearly the whole glass. "Aaaah," he sighed, squirming in his chair. "Yeah, that shit'll loosen you up, won't it?"

The Doctor got up. "I'll take that back, thank you," he said, snatching the bottle away. "This has been around for nearly a century."

"Tastes like it. Has aged very well."

"Well that makes one of us," the Doctor said. "I feel old," he said, watching Rose drink another glass and skip around the TARDIS, humming loudly.

"Oh, come on now," Jack said. "Drink up! Ya just saved the freakin' planet from those heinous monster-alien things. You know, the ones with the tusks and the... well, you know what they are, you just kicked their asses."

The Doctor grimaced. "Eh," he said. "Can't get drunk anyway, what's the point?"

"You only feel old if you look old," Jack continued, "and you don't look a day over…100," he said.

This seemed to cheer up the Doctor slightly. "Right," he said. He reached up to get a wine glass out of the cupboard and poured a little of the liquid into the glass. "Cheers," the Doctor said, and raised his glass.

Later… 

The Doctor held Rose's hand as she spun under his arm. He stopped her mid-spin and grabbed her other hand aggressively.

"Watch it now," she said. "I'm gonna need to use that later."

"You asked me to teach you how to tango," the Doctor replied. "Part of that is learning to be aggressive." They took a few steps forward. "Other foot," he said. The Doctor wasn't quite sure how the previous conversation had turned to tangoing, but it had, and Rose asked him if he knew how. He said of course he did, to which she replied, "Oh, really? Teach me then." He was proceeding to do just that.

"I'm no good at this," Rose said, and the Doctor spun her into him. Rose, however, tripped over her own foot and fell against him. She started laughing.

"Oh, now you're not even trying," he said, his arm wrapped around Rose's body awkwardly. The force of her body hitting his had knocked him and into a chair.

"No I'm not," she said honestly. "'S'what happens when your drunk like I am."

"You're not that drunk," he replied. Rose was sitting sideways on his lap now, and that, for some reason, made him uneasy. She, of course, was completely oblivious to this.

"Oi," she said, and let go of the hand the Doctor was holding. "I'm just not a tango-er. Ha. That's a funny word."

"Well, I haven't taught you the three rules of tangoing yet."

"Oh, the basics," Rose said, pretending to sound interested. She shifted around so that she could see him- something the Doctor wished she hadn't have done. "I bet I can guess what they are!"

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, playing with her hair. "The fist one is: it takes two people."

"Takes two to tango?"

"That'd be it, yeah," she said, laughing.

"Very good. That is, indeed, the first rule. The second one is that one person needs to lead and the other person needs to follow…"

"Oh, I'm very good at that rule," she said.

"Now, you didn't let me finish. I was going to say that, even though there's a leader, the follower needs to know the steps, too."

Rose sighed. "You're the leader, then?"

The Doctor looked her in the eyes, but felt compelled to look away. "Yes- that is, until you learn the steps."

Rose stood up and pulled on the Doctor's hand, until they were standing very close together. "Can we try again?"

"Of course," the Doctor said. He leaned right, and she mirrored him. "The third thing," he said. "Is realising that what the tango is, is telling a story. It has to portray emotions."

"Oh, like, 'Wow, I'm so happy, I'm tangoing!'?"

The Doctor actually laughed at that one. "No, Rose," he said, becoming serious. He took three steps to the left- Rose was keeping up with him well. "It's about, you know…"

"Love?"

"No, actually, not if you ask me. Romance," the Doctor said. "Passion…"

Rose was becoming more and more aware of her body against his.

"…Infatuation …"

She was feeling the slightest bit fait…

"… And lust…"

He spun her, once again, so his arm was wrapped around her body.

"And seduction."

Slowly, he dropped his hand and bowed to her. "And those," he said, "are the three rules of tangoing."

Rose studied him for a minute, not sure what to say. She was very dizzy after the spinning, but she was trying not to let her throbbing head muss her thoughts. "Where's Jack?" she finally asked.

The Doctor was caught completely off-guard. "Jack?" he asked. He walked over to the door that led out into the hallway. "Jack!" he called, but to no answer. "I think he left."

Rose scurried after him. "Left the TARDIS? To go where?"

"Out," the Doctor said. "And 'out' is the last place we want a drunk Jack Harkness."

"_Captain_ Jack Harnkness," Rose corrected. The Doctor gave her a withering look.

He opened the door to the TARDIS and stepped out into the night. It was pitch black- Rose could see nothing. The TARDIS cast a familiar blue glow over the grass near to where she was parked, but other than that, nothing. It was cloudy, so the moon wasn't visible; the nearest lights were from houses and shops in the nearby town.

"Jack?" she shouted into the night. She listened… nothing.

"Captain Harkness!" the Doctor shouted. He wandered off away from her. "Jack!" Suddenly, Rose heard a strangled yelp. She wheeled around just in time to see the Doctor slip down the hill. Without a second though, she ran after him.

Not entirely sure how to go about it, she gingerly, but quickly, made her way down the hill. It was a wonder she didn't loose her footing and fall herself, but eventually she reached the bottom. Rose squinted into the darkness and saw the outline of the Doctor in a crumpled heap a couple of metres from her.

"Doctor!" she exclaimed, rushing to him. He was lying on his back with his arm twisted underneath him. "Oh, god. Please answer!" She took the liberty to pull his arm out from under him- the Doctor groaned.

"Oh, thank god," she said, kneeling down next to him. "I thought you might've blacked out." Rose put a hand to his forehead; she could feel blood. "We need to get you to a doctor."

"I _am_ a doctor," he said angrily.

Rose frowned. "You know what I meant. A medical doctor."

The Doctor said nothing. He felt Rose's warm body near him, which was enough, despite the fact that he was in massive amounts of pain.

Rose, on the other hand, started laughing. It was just giggling, at first, but soon it heightened into guffawing.

"And what, may I ask, is so funny?" the Doctor asked indignantly.

"Nothing," Rose said in a whisper. She couldn't even breathe. "It's just…you just rolled down a hill," she said, and started laughing again.

"Oh, haha," the Doctor said. "There's nothing funny about that."

"Yes, there is," she said, wiping a tear away from her eye. "I'm not sure what, but it's very funny."

Rose still couldn't see the Doctor very well, but she was sure he was frowning. She kept laughing- she couldn't stop, and eventually he started laughing, too.

"You think it's funny, too!" she said. Rose put her hands on the Doctor's shoulders, and they sat there for about five minutes, holding each other and laughing their heads off.

Finally, Rose stood up. "Can you stand?" she asked. Her face was crimson and her hands were still shaking with laughter.

"I think so," he said. She took his hand and pulled him up.

"Ouch," he whispered, but Rose heard it.

"We should go back to the TARDIS," she said, slinging an arm around his shoulder.

"No," he said firmly. "We're going into town- I'm making my trip worth it."

"Trip," Rose said, as the Doctor started limping in the direction of the small town. "Like, you tripped. Hehehe."

Thirty minutes later, Rose and the Doctor entered a small, smoke-filled pub. Rose found an open table and sat down at it.

"We still need to get you to a clinic," she said, handing him napkins, which he placed on his forehead, mopping up the blood. The cut itself wasn't so bad, and most of the blood had dried, but he was having trouble walking and breathing.

"We can't go anywhere until we find Jack," he mumbled. "Wherever he is."

"Be right back," Rose said. She went up to the man standing behind the bar and asked him something- the Doctor didn't hear what. The man pointed up and said something, and Rose returned to the table.

"He says he saw a man with dark hair come in about an hour ago. He went upstairs."

"There's an upstairs?"

"Suppose so."

"Well, help me up, we'll go get him."

Rose did so. It took them a good 10 minutes to go 'up stairs'- they had to go to the back room and then up about a million stairs. They finally reached the landing, where there was a dirty, battered couch. The hallway was narrow, with two doors on either side.

"This is a tad eerie," Rose said, and the Doctor dropped onto the couch. The hallway looked completely neglected; in addition to the dilapidated couch, there were cobwebs in the corners and the framings of many of the doors looked the worse for wear.

"Too many stairs," the Doctor panted. "How many? 50?"

"More like 20," Rose said. "But what door should I go in? I'm afraid if I open one, somehting'll jump out at me."

"It's that one," the Doctor said, pointing to the second door on the right side.

"How do you…never mind," Rose said. She gingerly tried the handle, which turned easily. She took a breath and went in the room, closing the door behind her. The Doctor listened fixedly, and he thought he could pick up on a few voices- Rose's, and possibly Jacks, and possibly another man's. It made the Doctor nervous that Rose was in the room (in a strange pub, no less) by herself, but soon Rose emerged from the room, rolling her eyes.

"He's…uhg! Playing poker. Strip poker, too, and there were strange men in there and it was kind of scary," she sat down on the sofa next to him. "Jack's still fully clothed, though, which was a little disappointing." She laughed lightly.

"Is he planning on coming out any time soon?"

"He told me to give him 10 minutes to finish the game."

The Doctor shook his head. "I should've gone in there with you."

"Oh, I can take care of myself," Rose looked at the cut above the Doctor's left eyebrow. "S'you who can't. Look at you! Falling down hills an' everything."

"That was on accident," the Doctor said. He looked cross, but something in his eyes told Rose he was faking it. "You'd never know how to tango if it wasn't for me."

Rose laughed. "I still don't know how to tango. You should teach me when I'm sober."

"You're sober enough," he said. "That alcohol that I gave you isn't like Earth alcohol. It's got it's ups and downs. You were up, now you're down. You'll be up soon again."

Rose didn't say anything. "Still, I think you should re-teach me."

"Well, let's see what you remember. What's the first rule of tangoing?"

"Um… oh, I know! It takes two to tango!"

"Yes. Now, the second?"

Rose pursed her lips, thinking. "There has to be a leader- you- and a follower- me."

"But…"

"But both need to know the steps."

"Yes. And the third...?"

Rose sat up a little straighter. "The third is that the tango is supposed to tell a story, right? Portray emotion?"

"Exactly."

She was silent for a moment. "Like romance," she said, standing up.

"Rose, I don't think I can tango now," the Doctor said.

"I'm not asking you to tango," Rose said, very softly. She held out her hand and the Doctor took it, not liking where this was going.

"…And passion?" she cocked her head over to the side.

"…Right," the Doctor said. He swallowed, and Rose pulled him up so that they were standing front-to-front. "Rose listen, I really can't dance now."

"Infatuation, yeah?"

"Uh, sometimes."

"Sometimes," she echoed. "Like…when?"

She was looking at him strangely- differently- than she had ever looked at him before. Not with eyes that were laughing, or remorseful or even intrigued, as they usually were. He was sure Rose had never looked at him the way she was now.

"Like now?" And with that, she pulled him into a very soft kiss.

The Doctor was surprised, but not put-out. And although he didn't want to, he felt himself surrender to the kiss. He felt every ache and pain the fall had caused him take a backseat to the rush of adrenaline Rose was giving him. He also found himself pulling away abruptly.

"Rose, no," he said. "We can't. Not now. Not here, certainly." He wished he believed himself, but he knew he didn't, and neither did Rose.

She ran her hands up and down his arms, which had somehow found their way to Rose's waist.

"You said I was supposed to take the lead, Doctor," she whispered, her face inches away from his. Her hands roamed onto his shoulders. "And now I am. Right?" She kissed him again, but stronger this time. And this time, he pushed back.

Rose would have none of it, though, and they ended up shifting half way around. "Oh, I see," she said, her breath heavy and low. "_There can't be two leaders when you tango, Doctor_." And for a third time, their lips meant, even more urgently than they had the first two times.

That's when the Doctor realised what had been in Rose's eyes when she looked at him. In her eyes, in her face, body, in everything about her- it was a sense of control. She was now completely in control. Of himself, of her, and of the situation.

"Rose," the Doctor warned. Rose's hands moved to the collar of his jacket, where she began sliding it off his shoulders. "Rose," he said urgently. "You don't want to do this."

"Oh, yes I do," she said, smiling very sultrily. "I think you do, too."

The Doctor studied her for a moment. "You're drunk," he said simply, hoping to discourage her.

That comment, however, seemed to provide more motive for Rose. She kissed him again aggressively, her lips parted eagerly, and pushed the Doctor up against the wall. The Doctor wasn't sure how to feel about what was happening- he knew that a normal Rose wouldn't approve of what was happening.

"Rose," he said. Rose was kissing him repeatedly, trying desperately to get his jacket off of his shoulders. "Rose, dammit, listen."

"No," she said. "No, now you listen. You said I should be the leader, right? Know all of the moves better than the follower. And now I'm doing it."

"But you're not…if you were all here, you wouldn't want this."

"I know very well what I want," she said, and traced kisses down his jawbone and onto his neck, using all of her mouth as device. Finally, with a soft thud, the Doctor's jacket had at last been removed from his body. She smiled at the sound. "Easier access," she explained.

She had pinned him up against the wall at this point, but the Doctor no longer cared. _She was doing what she had been told to do_, he told himself. _Leadership. Direction. She's just more creative in demonstrating it. _

Rose was looking at him with expectant eyes, and the Doctor delivered, kicking his jacket out of the way and kissing her, his hands roaming around Rose's torso knowingly. There was something about the smell in the pub…the smoke and the dust…but both Rose and the Doctor felt claustrophobic, which might explain his next action. Rose led the Doctor from the wall and started walking forward with him, just like in a tango, unzipping her own jacket as she went.

Suddenly, and before Rose knew what was happening, the Doctor had lost his footing and fell backwards, down, down, and with another sickening thud, the flight of stairs.

A/N: This is actually a revised chapter; the first time, the section dividers didn't pick up when I uploaded it…don't know why… but here it is, new and slightly improved. Thanks!


	9. instert name of chapter here

Cameron just sat there, her chin propped up on her hand, her elbow on House's desk. She looked at Rose with a mixed expression for the longest time.

"Oh. My," she said at last.

Rose half-smiled. "Is that all I get?" she asked. "An 'oh, my'?"

Cameron raised her eyebrows and sat up straight. "No," she said. "I mean…that's a lot of information to hold up inside of you for so long."

"It's only been a few days."

"Kind of feels like years though, doesn't it?"

Rose chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Yeah. Kind of."

"Well, Rose," Cameron said. "I'm glad you told me."

"_I'm_ glad I told you," said Rose. "'Course now I'll have to tell the Doctor I told you. But you aren't…"

"Going to tell House? Nope."

"Which reminds me, I promise I'd tell Jack. You couldn't…"

"Do it for you?" Cameron finished Rose's sentence once again. "No, I think that's something you should do yourself."

Rose sighed, mostly for the effect; she never really expected Cameron to tell Jack for her. "Well, if that's it, I suppose I'llbe off then."

Cameron put her hands behind her back casually and nodded. Rose was nearly at the door, but before she left she turned around to face Cameron.

"Thanks," Rose said, looking Cameron in the eyes, "for listening."

Cameron didn't expect to be thanked- she hadn't prepared. "Thanks for talking," she said. Rose smiled again and let the door shut behind her, leaving Cameron in the office alone.

House peered out from around the corner and made sure Rose was all the way down the hallway before limping into his office, smirking to himself. "Yes, Miss Tyler," he said. "Thanks for talking."

**dwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdw**

Chase emerged from the Doctors' room around 6 o'clock. "He's awake," he told Jack, who had been falling in and out of sleep all day. "But I'm not sure he's ready to see anyone."

"Send him in!" called a voice from inside the hospital room.

Jack smiled at Dr. Chase politely and got up. He had no idea that Rose's stress and worry would affect on him, but it had- there was tension in his shoulders and his head felt like it was about to split open. A few cups of coffee had helped him there, though.

The Doctor was sitting up now, grinning. "Ah, Captain Jack," he said. "How are you on this fine day? Good, I hope." He frowned slightly. "You look sleepy. Wait, what time is it?"

"Just past six," Jack said, yawning. "I've been asleep all day. So've you. And so has Rose, actually, only she ran away a little while ago."

The Doctor looked confused. "Where is she?"

"Somewhere in the hospital. I think she's talking to Dr. Cameron."

The Doctor's face had gone from happy to concerned to severely concerned in less than 6 seconds. "Oh. Oh, no."

"Now there you go again! Acting all strange!" He pointed accusingly at the Doctor. "You're hiding something."

"And you're acting like a child."

Jack narrowed his eyes. "I don't like being left out."

"Okay, possibly-"

"Ha! So you and Rose _are_ hiding something!"

"Who said anything about Rose?" The conversation had now become rapid-fire.

"She told me. She said I don't know the whole story."

The Doctor put the heel of his hand on his forehead. "Oh, Rose…what've you done?"

"Now you've got to tell me," Jack said. "I'm tired of not knowing."

"I will, I- Rose?" The Doctor was looking past Jack. He swung around just in time to see Rose open the door.

"I'm sorry, I'm…wait, no I'm not," Rose said, in quick succession. "I'm not sorry at all. Doctor, I told Cameron," she said, breathing heavily, the way she had when she'd entered House's office an hour before. "I'm sorry, I really am, sort of. But I had to."

"I knew you would," the Doctor said, falling back into his pillows.

"How?"

"Jack told me you went to see her. I knew it was over before it had even begun."

"Well, I feel a helluva lot better," Rose said, smiling widely. "I think we can trust her, too, or else I wouldn't have told her. You believe me, don't you?"

"I don't trust humans," the Doctor said matter-of-factly. Both Jack and Rose frowned. "I mean, as a general rule, most can't be trusted. Jack, _you_ know that of all people, Mr. 51st Century."

Jack put his hand up. "Now, I'm going to count to 10," he said, slowly. "And if someone doesn't explain to me just exactly what's going on and what the big deal is in the next minute here, so help me God, I will go back to the TARDIS and…well, I can't fly the TARDIS, so I guess I'll just sulk."

"No," the Doctor said, sighing. He looked at Rose. "I'll tell him."

The color drained from her face like water from a sink. "I'll just…um…get some…tea, yeah, from the, uh…" she trailed off, and was out the door before she had even finished her sentence.

Jack watched her go, then turned back to the Doctor. "Alright, do I get in on the big secret now?"

"Yeah, yeah," the Doctor said. "Sit down and listen carefully, though, 'cause I'm only going to say this once and only for you."

**dwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdw**

It took 15 minutes for the Doctor to tell the whole story, and he felt like he had said it all in one breath. Jack asked him to go back and repeat information because he was telling it so fast, and the Doctor looked wrenchingly uncomfortable the whole time. By the end of the story, Jack's mouth hung slightly agape in confusion.

"Well?" the Doctor asked. "Don't you have something to say?"

"Yeah," Jack said slowly. He had been leaning forward slightly but he straightened up. "Go Rose!" he said, punching the air. "Wow! I didn't know the girl had it in her!"

The Doctor scowled. "That was not the response I was looking for."

"Oh I am so sorry," Jack said, in mock sadness. "But you're just a wimp." He laughed and shook his head. "You never stood a chance."

"No, hang on, I-"

"Oh, I know that you know that you liked it," he said, standing up. "Wait…you _did_ like it, didn't you?"

"What, falling down a flight of stairs? No, that ranks just under Slitheen on my list of things 'that I like'."

"I didn't mean that part," Jack said. "You know, the part where she kissed you? And kissed you? And kissed you?" He thought for a moment. "And kissed…"

"Oh, that. Well…"

"Yes?"

"That wasn't so bad," the Doctor said. It was barely audible, but Jack was sure he had heard it.

Jack chuckled. "I knew it," he said.

"Knew what?"

"Oh, for Christ's sake, you really expect me to believe that you don't love each other? Ha! Like I said, you guys are so sweet," he said, and cocked his head over to the side.

"Love? Love? Hahaha! What happened in that pub was _not_ the repercussion of any 'repressed love', Jack. Rose was very, very drunk. Amongst other things."

Jack shrugged. "So maybe it's not marital love or anything," he said. "But you've saved her life and she's probably saved yours. You love her…it makes sense."

"You don't understand," the Doctor said. He probably meant to continue, but Jack didn't let him

"I may be a Time Agent, and maybe you think I'm detached, but there are certain things that I do know, and I consider this to be one of them." Jack paced. "You don't love your parents the way you love your…oh, I don't know…cat, do you? And you don't love your cat the way you love your partner, but you still love them, right?"

"I've never had a cat."

"Work with me here!" Jack exclaimed.

"I did have a dog, once," the Doctor offered.

"Alright, a dog, then!" Jack continued, slightly flustered. "Like I was saying, you love your parents and your dog and your house, or TARDIS in this case, but you're not _in_ love with them."

"Yes, but-"

"I'm gonna need you to shut up now."

The Doctor scowled.

"So you love Rose, but you're not _in_ love with her. That's okay, too."

The Doctor glared. "Oh, am I allowed to speak now?"

"Yes," Jack said grudgingly.

"I understand your logic," the Doctor began, "I really do. But I don't like the word _love_. It's complicated."

"You can't run from it," Jack said in a sing-song voice that annoyed the Doctor.

"I'm not running, I'm just neglecting it."

"Well, that won't work, either."

The Doctor shook his head. "If you're suggesting I confront Rose about it- well, that's not going to happen."

"You don't have to tell Rose a damn thing," Jack said, and sat down once again. "But you really need to come to terms with it yourself."

"I have nothing to come to terms with. Rose and I are simply… companions."

Jack shook his head, and stood up once more to head for the door. "You are a really, _really_ bad liar," Jack said. "Just think about what I said. Okay?"

"Jack Harkness," the Doctor sighed. "You cause me nothing but pain and sorrow."

"Aw," Jack said, practically out the door. "I love you, too."

**dwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdw**

Jack found Rose in the cafeteria, mindlessly sipping tea.

"The Doctor told me," he said, sitting down next to her. "Everything."

"Everything? Like, everything…"

"Everything."

Rose didn't speak.

"So… when I came of that room and saw the Doctor and you at the bottom of the stairs…."

"It was because I pushed him down them. Yes."

"You didn't really push him, per se."

"I…was a vital part of him falling."

"Well yeah, I guess, but believe me, you didn't push him. There's a difference between a 'push' and…what actually happened."

Rose sighed and put her cup down. "I suppose you're right."

"I'm glad you're not going to argue with me about it," Jack said with a smile. "You…Rose…"

She raised her eyebrows, but kept looking forward, not at Jack. "Yes?"

He slung an arm around her. "You crack me up."

"Oh, yes, the situation is hilarious. Utterly hilarious. Forgive me for not being doubled-over with laughter."

"No, it's just… what happened. It's funny, isn't it?"

"No!"

"Just a little?"

Rose smirked. "Just a little. But only a little." She paused. "Wait, what am I saying? I almost killed a man!"

"You didn't 'almost kill' anyone," Jack said. "So stop saying that. The Doctor? Is like Superman. Man of Steel. Not easily killed-off."

Rose turned her head and looked at Jack with very weary eyes. "I want to go to bed." She got up and left the cafeteria, not throwing away her cup. Jack, sighing at Rose's low tolerance, followed her.

**dwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdw**

"Soooo," House said, entering his office. He saw Cameron go ridged. "Oh, no need, I knew you were in here

"I'm sorry, House," she said, retrieving her notebook and pen from his desk. "I just needed to talk to Miss Tyler in private for a moment. It won't happen again…wait, what? Did you know Rose and I were in here?"

"Indeed I did."

Cameron looked aghast. "Were you eavesdropping?"

House screwed up his face. "Technically, yes. But it's a very sophisticated form," he answered, and hobbled around his desk to behind the bookshelf. Cameron saw him stoop down, and when he rose, he brought with him…

"A baby-monitor? House, you used a baby monitor to hear what we were saying?"

"Yep. Pretty clever, huh?"

Cameron looked completely stricken. "You…you…. I can't even find the words!" Her mind was frantic- how much had he heard?

"Jeeze, Cameron, no need to get all angry," he said.

"Is that thing always on?"

"No actually," he said proudly. "After you all had gone to your shift- sorry, _my_ shift- I happened to be passing by Jack and Rose in the hallway. Jack muttered something about you and Rose, in my office, at 5:00."

"…So you got a baby monitor," Cameron ended for him, "and planted it in here, so that when Rose started talking, you could heard the whole thing."

"Very good! Yep, and then I hid out in Wilson's office and listened to the whole thing. It was hot! Lemme tell ya."

"Unbelievable," Cameron said, fuming.

"You should really thank the Captain," House said, swinging the monitor by it's electrical cord. "He's the one who clued me in. You need to be more careful about what you say around who."

Cameron grimaced. "He was talking in his sleep! He couldn't control what he said. You didn't _have_ to listen in!"

"Yes I did," said House. "And you, Dr. Cameron, weren't even going to tell me!"

"Well no, I wasn't," Cameron said, trying desperately to maintain calmness in the room. "Weren't you the one who brought up Patient/Doctor confidentiality in the first place?"

"Don't point fingers, now, Allison," House said. The use of her first name caught Cameron off-guard, but did not deter her.

"You had no right," she said. "No right at all."

"That, I think, depends on who you're talking to. Like, for example, you have no right to use my office."

"I apologized for that!"

House shrugged. "I'm not apologizing for listening."

"Screw. You." Cameron felt fiery anger in the pit of her stomach.

"Oh, now I'm really scared," House said, rising to his feet. "Is the great Allison Cameron going to take me down?"

"Don't, House…just, don't."

"Don't what?"

"You're an asshole," she spat. She took a step back, seeing as House was advancing towards here. "You don't deserve what you've got here, and with these patients. Rose is a good person, and so is Jack and so is the Doctor, and you've violated them."

"I'm hurt, really," House said, placing a hand on his heart. "You've wounded me."

They were now nose-to-nose, staring at each other. Cameron felt no emotion- no jittery feeling, no weakness in the knees. Only a feeling of immense disgust towards this man she was standing only inches from, looking into his cold blue eyes.

"You're not backing down, are you?" House said. She could feel his breath on her mouth.

"No."

Silence.

"_Greg_," she said, with an unusual air of confidence. Her eyebrows rose slightly as she spoke; it was almost a question.

House smirked slightly, but not in a good way.

"Touché," he said.

Cameron did not smile in victory, although she felt one creeping up on her lips. She turned and left the room, leaving House in her wake.


	10. A bit of confusion

Rose, as promised, had gone to bed immediately. Jack, however, did not feel tired at all. He considered going to bed anyway, but the thought of lying awake for hours (then finally drifting off to sleep at some ungodly hour in the morning) did not impress him. He sighed and found himself turning the coffee pot on.

Jack jumped up to sit on the countertop, right next to the percolator. _Okay_, he thought. _Let's review. We save the world. We get drunk- well, Rose and I do, anyway, Rose probably more than me. I can hold my liquor,_ he thought proudly.

_Anyway, I leave, they come after me. It's dark- it's got to be 1:00 by then? So the Doctor slips, rolls down the hill. Right, that all makes sense. Rose and Doctor limp to bar, find me. They wait for a while, Rose decides that she needs to have the Doctor then and there, and begins…well she probably _would_ have danced, had she gotten the chance. But the Doctor ends up in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. So, I come out of the room, find them, help them back to the TARDIS. Right._

_Next day-We don't really discuss anything that day- actually, we don't really speak to each other at all, since we're both experiencing hangovers the size of the Grand Canyon. The Doctor stays in his room, sleeping I guess, even though he never sleeps. _

_Day after that- Doctor is in even worse condition than day before, even though he insists he's fine. Rose is non-plussed, but honors his wishes and doesn't take him to any kind of hospital. He's probably in some pain all day, but I'm still suffering a hangover and don't really notice. Rose, however, seems fine. Hmmm…maybe she has a faster metabolism than I do? Or something?_

_Next, next day- Rose is upset with the fact that he's doing even worse than the previous days. She does her best to set coordinates, but the Doctor butts in and, between the two of them, we land in New Jersey, at Princeton Plainsboro. Meet the slightly-evil Dr. House, the amazingly attractive Dr. Chase, the friendly Dr. Cameron, the possibly-more-amazingly-attractive-than-Chase Dr. Wilson, the Brains of the Operation (obviously) Dr. Foreman, and…hmm. Haven't met Dr. Cuddy yet. Who is this reclusive doctor and, more importantly, is he/she attractive at all? _

Jack mulled over his thoughts a little more while the coffee pot emitted a grinding noise. Suddenly, he heard a _thudthudthud. _

His head snapped in the direction of the sound, but he could not identify it. He heard it again not 20 seconds later, but louder- _thudthudthud._

He wondered if the coffee maker was malfunctioning. He put an ear to it, but decided that wasn't the problem. Instead, he heard a muffled, but loud and familiar voice coming from the Console room.

"Rose! ROSE TYLER! I know you're in there!" _Thudthudthud! _

Jack left his coffee and crept, cautiously, into the room. No one had entered the TARDIS unannounced, but he could tell that the voice was coming from outside the door.

_Thudthudthudthudthud! _The thuds were angrier now.

"Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness! This is your two AM wake up call!" the voice bellowed in. "Come on, what could you all possibly be doing in there? It's too small to-"

But Jack had heaved open the door before House finished.

"Ah, Mr. Harkness, my good man!"

"_Captain_ Harkness," corrected Jack.

House smiled frigidly. "Yes. Now, Captain Harkness, I need to see Rose Tyler. It's a matter of…" House trailed off, no longer looking at Jack's face, but instead at the TARDIS' glowing console.

Jack noticed House's attention had been diverted and smirked. "Welcome, Dr. House," he said, stepping back from the doorway and sweeping his arm outwards, "to the TARDIS."

"Holy shit," House said after a second. He stepped inside. "It's…"

"…bigger on the outside than it is on the inside, mmhm," Jack said, and made his way back into the kitchen. "Don't touch anything- we might end up on…I don't know…" Jack just sort of trailed off and decided not to call any planets by name, at the risk that House's head might explode while trying to take in all of this new information.

Of course, there was no way House could fly the TARDIS at all, especially not by merely touching any part of it, but as Jack watched, he saw that House that he was careful not to let his cane rest anywhere near the base of the console, or even let his coat brush the wall.

"It's…gigantic," House said. "So many lights…" 

"It's got unlimited rooms, or so I hear."

"Really now." It was not a question.

House remained silent, still studding what Jack could only assume to be the…paneling? Jack ducked into the kitchen, confident House wouldn't mess with anything, and returned with a cup of coffee.

"I really need to see Rose," House said, his eyes fixated at the console itself. "It's important."

"I see," said Jack slowly. "Well, she's asleep- can't it wait?"

"No," House said shortly, still not looking at Jack.

Frowning, Jack left the console room, leaving House to his own devices. He returned with Rose in tow, looking sleepy and disorientated.

"Hm, what? House?"

"Rose! Yes. Alright, thank you, Captain."

Jack didn't move.

House flicked his wrist at him. "You can leave now."

Jack took a deep breath and nearly said something, but Rose put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Jack. Thanks," she said softly. Jack turned around, still mad, and went back into the kitchen.

"House, what do you want?"

"So…alright. Now, how many people do you think you've slept with?"

Rose opened her mouth as if she had prepared to say something, but stopped short. She gaped.

"No, seriously- most of the time, when I ask that, it's cause we need it for medical reasons."

Rose continued gaping.

"No need to speak, I'll keep going," House said. "So, normally I need it to diagnose whatever ailment the patient is down with. I need to know about your sex life, not because I need to know the aliment, or even to know the treatment, but because it's interesting. And I'm all about interesting."

Rose heard some gurgling come up from her throat, but it was as if the words were trapped. She stayed silent.

"Your sex partners…how ever many of them there are…they're all still alive, right? 'Cause from what I've heard, every time you try to have sex with a guy, you almost kill him."

Rose blinked, her entire body frozen. She felt like House had punched her in the stomach.

"What?" she whispered.

"Yeah," House said, nodding, as if this information should have come as a shock. "Like the Doctor. What was that all about, eh? Pushin' him down those stairs. You'd make a incredible dominatrix, do you know that?"

"Domin…" Rose trailed off, her words barely hearable. She decided to play dumb. "What are you talking about?"

House chuckled. "I think you know."

"How did you…who told you?"

"Oh," House said, looking around. "I can be very persuasive…I've got my methods."

"Cameron," Rose said with a nod. "Cameron. Allison. She told you?"

House shrugged. "How I found out is neither here nor there- what's important is that I know, and that you were lying to me."

"I…I never lied," she stuttered, "I just-"

"What? Told an un-truth? That's the same thing, Rose, the same thing."

Like Cameron had earlier, Rose was caught off-guard when House used her first name. It hadn't bothered her before, but it did now. "It shouldn't matter!" she said, her eyes fluttering, looking anywhere but at House."It didn't matter how he got that way, it mattered…it mattered that he got better," she said, her eyes fluttering, looking anywhere but at House.

"I needed to know, and you didn't tell me."

"You…I can't believe…Cameron told you?"

House started walking over to the door. "You should know, Rose, you should know…everybody lies. You…Jack, probably, me, the Doctor. Everybody. And I always find out. Always."

With that, House nodded at her curtly. "Good night, Miss Tyler," he said, and let himself out.

Rose turned around slowly, her eyes brimming with tears, and Jack was there.

"How much of that did you see?" Rose asked, knowing her nose must be turning red with every second.

"I came in at the part about your sex partners," Jack said. He saw Rose flinch slightly and begin crying.

"Rose, come here."

"You know, Jack?" she asked. "I don't even know why I'm crying," she said, walking towards her. "But look- I am."

Jack shushed her softly and hugged her, one hand on her back and one on the back of her head, as though protecting her from House, or anything else.

"Shh, Rose, it's okay," he said, as Rose leaked tears onto his shirt. She wasn't sobbing- no where near it, in fact- but there was something about the way her shoulders sagged so unbearably that made Jack lead her back into her room and put her to bed. He was sure she wouldn't remember any of it in the morning, but that was okay, he thought. House, however, would remember the next day of his life for quite some time- Jack would be sure of that.

**dwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwd**

"I'm not surprised that you asked Drs. Cameron, Chase and Foreman to do your hours," Cuddy began, elbows-on- desk and fingers laced, ruby-red nails gleaming. "I am, however, a little shocked you asked them to do the hours _despite _the fact that currently you have no case." She smiled malevolently. "Care to explain?"

House, who had been called into Cuddy's office just earlier, had not prepared a story. He didn't want the confusing and questions that went along with telling Dr. Cuddy he had been spending all of his time on the Doctor's not-so-mysterious case.

"I just," he began, "you know. Video games. I was on level 24 of Ninja Warriors and I was just getting to the part where they battle the Evil Samurais of Death and I just though, _'Greg, why stop now? You can beat these samurais!'_ So I did. Hope you don't mind- I sacrificed my hours to the greater good."

Cuddy looked down at her lap. "I guess I wasn't expecting a better excuse. House, you need to do your own hours! The clinic isn't really that bad, is it?"

"Yes it is!" whined House. "And besides, Cameron _likes_ the clinic! She's a people person!"

"Foreman and Chase, however, told me they would rather be doing a differential diagnosis with you than at the clinics." Cuddy looked at him sternly. "That says a lot, doesn't it?"

"Well I'd rather be doing a differential diagnosis with them. Isn't that saying a lot? Besides, Chase sometimes annoys me. And Foreman is always right. Haven't you ever heard of _too much togetherness_, Dr. Cuddy?"

Cuddy was about to retort, when the doors to her office swung open and in strode a very nice-looking young man with dark hair. "I'm sorry, Dr. Cuddy?"

Cuddy nodded.

"Hello, can I borrow Dr. House for a moment?"

House looked confused. Cuddy saw this and groped for words- House was looking at her as if he were trying to tell her something- his eyes were wide as saucers.

"I'm sorry- have we met?"

"No, sorry. Not yet." He stuck out his hand. "Jack Harkness," he said hurriedly, as Cuddy shook his hand. "Now, I need a quick word with Dr. House, and then I'll be out of your hair."

Cuddy shook her head, puzzled. "Yes, fine." She suspected that Jack would have asked to see House outside, but instead he turned to face him.

"Dr. House?" he asked politely. Without warning, he raised his left fist and, in a split second, it had made contact with House's face, squarely in his jaw. House lurched to the side and staggered before loosing his balance and falling to the ground.

"That's for Rose," Jack said loudly. Cuddy shot up from her desk and started making her way around it to stop him.

He kicked House in the shin while he was down. "That's for the Doctor," he explained. Finally, he stooped down and flicked House in the top of the ear. A small gesture, he knew, but it usually caused a great deal of pain.

"And that," Jack yelled over Cuddy's screams of protest - "Was for the TARDIS!" Cuddy had both hands on his shoulders and was trying to steer Jack out the door.

"She doesn't like you much!" Jack managed to say before Cuddy, with one last shove, pushed him out the open office door.

**dwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwd**

Rose's alarm clock went off at 9:00 AM. She groaned when she saw how late in the morning it was, and figured that Jack must have re-set it. She realised she was in her own bed, and didn't remember much about the night before…

_Oh. _The events of the previous night came flooding back to her.

Rose shook her head, deciding on what to do. She chose to get breakfast inside the hospital instead of making her own, but did not give much thought into getting dressed- a pair of dirty sweatpants thrown over her pyjamatrousers, a T-shirt with a hole in it thrown over her camisole. No hair brushing required.

Rose entered the cafeteria for what seemed like the millionth time during her stay. She grabbed one of the brown-grey trays off of the stack and started to walk over to where the boxes dry cereal were kept. Before she could reach the, Cameron intercepted her, looking cheery.

"Hi, Rose!" she said energetically. "Great news, it's about the Doctor-"

"I don't care."

Cameron's brow furrowed. "But it's good- the Doctor, he's being discharged today."

"Good," Rose said stiffly, not looking at Cameron. She gripped and re-gripped the sides of her tray, as her palms were getting sweaty. "Then hopefully we'll be able to get the hell away from here as fast as possible. By tonight, you think?"

Cameron blinked a few times, trying to understand Rose's bitterness. "Well, I- if you wanted to, yeah…"

"Good," she kept walking, not looking behind her. "Thank you, Dr. Cameron."

Cameron was not going to give up without a fight. "Rose!" she said, walking quickly after her. "What's the problem?"

"Nothing," Rose said.

"Please tell me," Cameron pleaded.

"Oh, I will. But you'll probably just tell everyone, won't you? Till the whole bloody hospital knows why I'm mad!" She kept her voice down, but a nurse passing buy with a plate full of pancakes gave her a sideways glance. Rose snarled back.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know already," Rose said, grumbling.

"Is it about…what you told me?"

"Yes, alright?" Rose said, setting her tray down angrily. "And about how you told House."

Cameron opened her mouth to say something, her eyes closed. "No, Rose, no. Listen."

"No, Allison! No. Please. I've had enough," Rose said, holding her hand up. "I just want to get out of here as soon as possible. Away from _you_, away from Dr. House…just, away." Rose had been leaning over her tray as she spoke, but she straightened up. "Good day, Dr. Cameron," she said, unsmilingly, and left the cafeteria.

**dwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwd**

Cameron didn't take off after Rose immediately- she, instead, chose her next plan of action. She nearly sprinted back to the room where Foreman and Chase were playing cards earlier, but Foreman had left, and Chase was throwing the red tennis ball in the air.

"Chase!" she said, trying to catch her breath. She stood in the threshold. "Where is Dr. House?"

"God," Chase said, still concentrating on throwing the ball in the air, "you and Jack alike."

Cameron took a breath. "What?"

"Yeah, Jack came in here about seven minutes ago, looking for House."

"Well…? Where'd you send him?"

"Cuddy called him into her office right before Jack came around, so I sent him there."

"Is he still there?"

"Damned if I know," Chase said. "But it was strange, because yesterday House asked where the Tar…Tardis-thing was parked."

Cameron shut her eyes, trying to piece together the events. "Last night? You mean, at around…seven-ish? Possibly?"

Chase nodded. "Yeah, maybe. Why?" He turned to look at Cameron, but only saw the hem of her lab coat as she dashed back down the hallway.

"Jack," she panted, seeing him just around the corner from her destination. "Is House in Cuddy's office, or has he left?"

Jack, who was looking a bit shaken, smirked. "Oh yeah," he said, nodding his head. "I imagine he'll be in there for quite some time."

"Oh, okay. Listen, Jack," she said, making eye contact with him. "I didn't tell House. Rose is mad, and she's got good reason, but I didn't tell him. I really didn't."

Jack saw Cameron was telling the truth. "Really?" he asked. "But he…how does House know, then?"

"He eavesdropped- it's a long story, and I promise I'll tell you, but not now." She closed her eyes, trying to think of what to do next. "Jack, just please go tell Rose…tell her I didn't tell House. Tell her I kept my promise." Cameron tilted her chin down, looking at him. "Please?"

Jack gave Cameron a broad smile. "I always knew I liked you," he told her.

A very tiny smile flickered on Cameron's mouth as she watched Jack jog down the hallway, away from the office.

Cameron gasped as soon as she opened the door. Cuddy was standing over Dr. House, who was propped up against the wall, a small cut on his cheek.

"What the hell happened?" Cameron exclaimed, kneeling down next to House. "Who did this?"

"That man!" Cuddy shouted, pointing out the door. "Harkness!"

"Who, Jack?"

"Yes! He came in here and just attacked him. He's insane- call security!"

"Wait, stop, hang on," Cameron said, sitting back on her haunches. "Did he say anything?"

Cuddy seemed confused at Cameron's question. "Yes- he went on about, uh, Rose? And the Doctor, what doctor I'm not sure, and then Tardis- how Tardis doesn't like him much."

Cameron tried to figure out what had happened by the clues Cuddy had given him. She stared at the floor for a moment, biting the inside of her lip. Suddenly, she understood.

"House!" she yelled, looking right at him, no longer afraid of the icy blue eyes. House looked at her in a slightly mournful way.

"Did you go to the TARDIS yesterday?"

House groaned a bit.

Cameron looked at him sideways, getting angrier. "And did you tell Rose that you had eavesdropped?"

House shook his head.

"Oh, no, you didn't!" she cried, nodding her head, trying to get House to nod with her. "Oh, no, you told Rose that I had told you, didn't you?"

House opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out.

"House! Answer me!"

"Cameron!" Cuddy said. "What is the problem?"

"The problem is that Dr. House is completely sadistic, and, more importantly," she looked from Cuddy to House, "sociopathic!"

Cameron stood up, both sets of eyes on her. Without a second thought, she raised her foot and stamped it, hard- not her hardest, but very hard- on House's hand.

He let out a yelp in pain, and Cuddy stood up.

"Dr. Cameron, what…?"

Cameron had already stood up and walked to the door. "I'm sorry Dr. Cuddy, I have to go now. Sorry, Dr. House." She looked sorrowful for just a second, but presently got over it and let the door slam behind her.

Cuddy looked completely bewildered. She blinked her eyes a few times and looked down at House.

"Now, who's Tardis?"

**dwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwd**

**A/N: I fear, friends, that the next chapter will be the last. I know that might upset some people, so if you'd like to, just ignore this Author's Note altogether and be surprised.**

**I'm not making any promises- if the chapter turns out to be a million words long, then I'll break it up into two parts…but if it's a reasonable length, then…well, you know.**

**Thanks!**


	11. There's a Fine, Fine Line

**Hey! All right, before you begin:**

**This is _not_ the ending- I repeat, this is _not_ the ending! As usual, I had to break the final chapter up into two separate ones. I don't think you'll mind, though, will you? Nah.**

**Also- I've got a feeling that some of you are going to love this chapter, but it's possible some of you will hate it. I guess I'll just have to see how it fans out!**

**Happy reading, my friends!**

Cameron made a quick exit down the hallway, not entirely sure what had just happened. As soon as she turned the corner, she stopped and fell up against the wall, trying to gather her thoughts. She had sent Jack to tell Rose, right? But Rose didn't have to believe her. If she was really mad, she might just ignore him. Of course, it was possible that Jack's belief in Cameron might mean something to Rose…

…But then again, Cameron had always found Rose to be exceptionally independent for her age, so Jack taking a liking to Cameron might not make all that much of a difference.

She took in a breath, counted to three, and let it out.

_Where to go next? _She wondered. Cameron thought for a moment and decided that maybe she should go hang out with Chase. Toss the ball around for a while- maybe that would calm her down. When Rose was ready to come talk to her…if that ever happened… Cameron would be waiting.

Cameron took two lefts, then a right. As she turned the corner, a figure clad in a grey T-shirt and sweatpantsran into her shoulder, jolting her.

"Oh!" the person said in a familiar, and not American, accent. "Sorry. I was in a rush, I didn't even look- Cameron?"

"Rose!" Cameron said, surprised. She was truly shocked. "I didn't think you'd still be around."

Rose looked down, uncomfortable. "I know. I was on my way out when Jack caught up with me and told me what you told him." Rose looked at Cameron, her eyes screwed up, but not holding back tears. "Cameron, I…I'm sorry."

Cameron opened her mouth, but no words came out. She had expected to be yelled at some more, or Rose to completely blow her off- not apologize to her.

"Jack told you, then?" Cameron finally managed to say. "What I said?"

Rose nodded. "House really did eavesdrop?"

Cameron nodded back. "He did. I didn't know, Rose, I would've never set you up like that. Not if I had known. Never."

"No, I know," said Rose. "I'm just sorry I didn't believe you earlier. I should have known I could trust you."

A smile broke out on Cameron's face. A wide one, too, and she pulled Rose into a hug. Not a huge one, but enough to let her known all was forgiven. Rose hugged back, and eventually pulled out.

"Ah, God," she looked down at herself, "what am I wearing?"

"I was just wondering that," Cameron said, giggling. "Looks like you got dressed in the dark."

"Speaking of dark," Rose said. "The Doctor's room is empty. Where did he go?"

"Oh!" Cameron said. She had completely forgot. "Right before I talked to you, in the cafeteria, Foreman and I told the Doctor he was getting discharged today- he hopped out of bed and went to take a shower. He said he didn't want to smell like hospital any more."

Rose unconsciously played with the hole in her shirt. "This hospital has a shower? Where?"

"I'll show you," Cameron replied, took off down the hallway.

**dwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwwd**

The Doctor let the stream of hot water massage the muscles in his neck. He shifted his weight to the right, and then the left, trying to get the pressure from the water to knead out the tight muscles in his back, but it was to no avail.

He wondered how long he had been in the shower. Five minutes? Fifteen? Thirty, he decided, or at least twenty. No amount of time going to be enough, but he found PPTH's showers extremely relaxing, and especially clean- Dr. Chase told him virtually no one ever used them.

The shower itself was rather big-four metres, probably, by four, with royal-blue tiles. The Doctor wasn't sure if he liked the size or not, but it made the sound of the water echo and fill up the space so it didn't seem as large.

He decided he didn't care, and went back to relaxing. Just when he was about to tilt his head back and let the water wet his hair, he heard footsteps.

They padded along in a fast rhythm… not running, but not walking. Skipping?

_Nah_, he thought.

But Chase said no body ever used the showers!

_What are the odds of someone taking a shower the same day as me?_

The footsteps grew louder, get faint and then, eventually, stop a little ways away from the shower cubical he was in.

The Doctor stood still, not wanting to turn the water off.

"Doctor?" the voice questioned. "Is that you?"

The Doctor's brow furrowed. "Rose?"

"Yeah. Hi."

"Bloody hell!" the Doctor sputtered. "You gave me a heart attack!"

"Could you hear me?"

"Yeah."

"The water's so loud, though." Rose paused. "Oh, I forgot- your ears have special powers."

"S'right."

Rose didn't say anything for a minute. "Heard you're getting discharged today," she said at last.

"Yep," the Doctor replied. "Thought I'd do you and Jack and the TARDIS favour and at least smell good when I get back on board."

"Probably a good idea."

"Rose…" the Doctor said. He wished he could bring himself to shut off the water, but wasn't sure if he could. "Couldn't you have waited until I got out to come find me?"

"I'm sorry," Rose said, as if she figured he would ask eventually. "A lot has happened since I talked to you last."

"Oh?"

Rose recounted the events of the previous night and that day's morning for him.

"…and Cameron showed me to here and now…here I am."

"I'm gonna kill him," the Doctor said. Rose couldn't see his face, but she knew he was angry.

"Oh, now…" Rose couldn't think of any compelling argument. "Jack beat him up already!" she said, knowing it was a weak retort.

"That's was an unbelievably cruel thing to do," the Doctor said. "Not what Jack did- that was okay- but what House did. Listening. Violating you."

"I know," she said softly. "But I'm over it now."

The Doctor didn't speak.

"Hey," Rose said. "He saved your life- maybe you could spare his? For my sake?" She crossed her arms. "I don't think I could handle the stress of you killing House. The police would have all kind of questions for me, and…I'd just faint. Like Wilson did," she said, laughing lightly.

The Doctor frowned. "I suppose…"

Rose exhaled. "Thank you."

Silence, once again, filled the showers. Rose saw that there was a bench and sat down on it, but the Doctor was thinking…thinking about what Jack had said. Here was Rose, and this was his opportunity.

…But he wasn't sure if he could do it.

The words were out of his mouth, though, before he could stop them.

"Rose, I need to talk to you."

"Hm?" Rose asked, obviously oblivious.

The Doctor resisted the urge to clamp a hand over his mouth. _What have I done? _He thought as he turned off the water and wrapped a towel around his middle.

The Doctor pushed the curtain back and found Rose to his right, sitting on a bench. She was looking the other way, but turned her head in his direction when she heard the curtain being drawn.

Rose blinked several times. She had never seen the Doctor without his jacket on, and he was…muscular, and very attractive. Rose hadn't ever really thought about what he would look like without the jacket and shirt, which shocked her a great deal, the more she thought about it. This new sight was a pleasant surprise.

He was in good shape, of course- _Hell,_ Rose thought, _Great shape. _Fantastic_ shape. _ _How could he not be?_ _He saves the world on a regular basis!_

Rose realised she was being rude. "Sorry!" she apologised, and looked away

He chuckled. "What, you think I shower with my clothes on?"

"No, I didn't…think at all."

"You can look," he told her.

Rose looked back at him, making it her personal goal to not let her eyes wander.

"What did you need to say?" she asked.

The Doctor sighed. "It's complicated."

"When is it not?" Rose asked. "Anything. It's _always_ complicated."

"Well, this is especially complicated."

Rose puffed out her chest. "I can take it."

The Doctor tilted his head back, hoping that his neck would pop. It didn't. "Alright," he said. "But you have to face the other direction."

Rose looked disappointed. "You said I could look!"

"I changed my mind."

Rose grinned a little. "What's this all about?"

"You'll see," he said, not returning a grin. He deeply regretted the fact that he was in a towel- it made him feel vulnerable, although he hated to admit it to himself. Where was that jacket when he really needed it?

Rose stood up and turned around 180 degrees. "Alright."

The Doctor took in a breath. What exactly was he supposed to say? This wasn't like in movies where he hero come in, sweeps the girl off her feet, and they ride into the sunset. It would never be like that- they wouldn't get a storybook ending.

That was the part that worried him most. _Their_ ending was always unsure.

_All the more reason to tell her! _The Doctor told himself, but found it was Jack's voice speaking to him. _Now!_

He decided to turn around as well, so that he wasn't facing her.

"Is there something on my butt?" Rose said, swatting at her rear-end with her hand. "Hey, are you _looking_ at my butt?" she asked.

"Not anymore," the Doctor joked. Rose turned around to see that he was no longer facing her…and took note to how nice his ownbackside was.

"Can we get this over with?" Rose said. "I want to go change clothes before we say good-bye."

"Right," the Doctor said, trying not to feel rushed. He couldn't say what he was about to say under rushed conditions.

"Okay. Rose?"

"Yes."

"I…"

She listened patiently.

"I…"

"…Is this a code?"

"No! Would you just shut up for a moment, please?"

Rose crossed her arms defiantly, resisting the urge to turn around.

"I…Rose, I…I think I'm in love with you."

It was as if the weight of a thousand tons had been lifted off of his shoulders. He didn't know how long he had been carrying around these anvils, but he knew that he must have acquired them over the past few days.

Just as fast as the weight had disappeared, the Doctor got the sudden feeling of the bottom of his stomach dropping out, leaving a gigantic hole.

_What did I just say?_

Rose dropped her arms from across her front. "You love me?"

"No!" he said, wheeling around. "I said…I said I'm _in_ love with you."

"Is there a difference?" she asked, turning to face him, her face flushed with pink.

"Yes!" he said, frustrated that he had to explain. "A huge difference!" He rushed forward and grabbed her shoulders.

"An enormous difference!"

There was a voice in his head- his own- was screaming at the top of its lungs for him to stop talking, right then.

But he decided to ignore this voice. It was the voice of reason, and there was nothing, as far as he was concerned, even remotely reasonable about his situation.

"Listen, Rose," he said, his voice on the verge of shouting. "I'm standing, sopping wet in a bath towel, and I've got you by the shoulders. I'm in love with you," he said. "And I don't want to admit it to ether of us."

"You… you love me, then," Rose concluded.

_For as smart of a girl that Rose was, _the Doctor thought_, she really wasn't getting it._

"I used to love you," he said, dropping his hands. "And I still do, probably. But I'm in love with you now."

_Stop_! the voice screamed. _Don't say another word. You'll regret it!_

The Doctor rubbed his face with his hand and through his hair as he watched Rose- she was completely unreadable.

"Oh, Rose," he said. "What did I do? I'm out of my mind," he said, and paced to the other end of the room. "That's what you do to me, Rose."

Rose watched the Doctor pace for a moment. Her brain was going a million miles a minute- her heart was not far behind. She was sure she had heard him correctly- he really had said it.

Just as she had started crying lo those few nights before as all of those emotions surfaced, Rose felt a similar feeling. It wasn't fleeting- it wasn't only for a moment. But it was like the world had opened up to her, and she had to jump in before it closed again- and she was truly afraid that it already had.

In less than a second Rose had crossed the room. She put her hands on the Doctor's bare arms and kissed him on the mouth.

This, needless to say, halted his pacing. Without even thinking about it, he kissed her back.

The Doctor didn't want to pull out, but did. He didn't go back far, though, and Rose could feel his breath on her mouth.

"Don't speak," he said. "Not another word. Just answer me this- do you…" He still had trouble saying it. "You love me, then?"

Rose smiled, feeling herself melt a little bit. It must have taken him a lot to tell her. He deserved a lot of recognition.

"No," she said, and kissed him eagerly again. "But I am _so_ in love with you."


	12. Oooh, Confrontation!

Rose more or less floated out of the showers and down the hallway, feeling lighter than air. It was a peculiar feeling to have, too, under the circumstances. Rose felt as if, if she were to stop moving for a moment, she'd dissolve into giggles.

Why was this happening? This wasn't the way you were supposed to feel.

Rose felt like she should feel placid- content and happy. Not bubbly, not giddy, not anything- just sort of calm. Calm and complete.

Not that she didn't feel complete. She felt…odd. Odd and happy.

And she decided, then and there, that feeling odd and happy would have to be okay.

Rose stopped to collect her thoughts. She walked over to the wall and tipped her forehead forward so that it rested lightly against it.

_What now?_ She thought. She'd go back to the TARDIS, change clothes- that was priority number one. Then they'd say good bye, the TARDIS would dematirialise, and then…

And then…

_And then what? _Rose thought. _What would we do? Just pretend like nothing happened? Just go about our merry way, different planets, different times…pretending like nothing was different now?_

Well, that certainly wasn't happening.

Rose took in a breath and held it. The giddiness she had so recently been feeling had almost altogether vanished.

_No,_ she thought. _Don't think about it. Get that feeling back._

Suddenly, Rose was aware of a presence standing close to her. Praying it wasn't the Doctor (and not sure why she didn't want it to be), she turned her head, only to see House standing next to her, grinning like the cat that had caught the canary.

_Alright, maybe not like the cat that had caught the canary,_ Rose mused. _But like the cat who had trapped the canary in a corner and was savoring the moment. _

"Miss Tyler-" was all he managed to get out, before Rose turned suddenly and slapped him on the cheek. House staggered backwards a few steps, tripping a little bit. "Oooh," he said. "Ouch. That was the same side Jack got me on."

"You deserve it," Rose said, trying to keep her breathing regular. There was a fury that was building inside her, and it was taking a lot of strain to keep it from surfacing. "You're lucky I don't kick your ass."

House rubbed his cheek. "Sheesh, you and Cameron."

Rose's mouth twitched. "Cameron beat you up?"

"She stepped on my hand," House said.

"Better than nothing."

House smiled in spite of himself. "I should have known not to mess with the time-traveler and his posse."

Rose's nostrils flared. "Jack and I are _not_ a… posse," she spat, "and don't you-"

"Right, sorry, not a posse. Are you the girlfriend?"

Rose opened her mouth to protest instinctively, but hesitated a half-second too long.

"Aren't you going to contradict me?"

"Yes!"

"Oh, but you weren't going to, were you?"

Again, Rose hesitated.

"Are you his girlfriend or what?"

"I'm his companion," Rose said, realising how ridiculous she sounded.

"But you aren't involved?"

Rose didn't say anything for a moment. "No," she lied through her teeth.

"You're lying."

"How do you know?"

"Uh, dirt to Rose," House said, raising his eyebrows. "I always know."

"I'm not lying, though."

"Lying again!" House said, throwing his hands up. "Liar, liar, liar!"

"Don't make me hit you again," Rose warned. "'Cause I will."

"Yeah, I know," House smirked. "You're like that."

"Yeah, I am," Rose said, smiling. Had she won?

"Were you talking to the Doctor?" House asked. The change of subject threw Rose off.

"Yes…no," she tried to cover it up.

"For God's sake, quit lying! It's annoying!"

"Sorry," she apologised, and immediately regretted it. House did not deserve an apology from anyone.

"Did he tell you anything of importance?"

"I'd assume you'd know, House, you're the one who listens in on other people's conversations."

House chuckled. "So you found out?"

"Why d'you think I slapped you?"

"Cause you didn't like me?"

Rose didn't let herself grin. "Yeah, he told me some important things."

"Such as…"

"I'm not telling you! Why do you think I would, after everything…"

"Did he tell you he loved you?"

Rose gaped. "You did listen!"

House grinned even wider. "I was right!" he cried. "Yesss!"

She clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Yeah, that's right, Rose," House said. "I guessed. Come on, I'm not _that_ evil."

"Sometimes I wonder," Rose said, hand still over her mouth. "How did you know?"

House made a _pfft-_ing noise. "I was the one who freakin' set you up!" he said. "I'm the one who made this entire thing happen!"

Rose blinked. "You're lying."

"I don't lie." House wagged a finger at her. "Well, okay, I do, but not about this." He started pacing. "The first time I ever saw the Doctor, I asked him if he liked you- oh, don't look so surprised! -and he said no. Of course, he was lying. I know he was lying, because he's a bad liar. I also knew you were lying about how he got bruised up. I put a baby-monitor in my office and kept it on when I left, and eventually, I stuck gold when you and Cameron came in and had your little…discussion.

"Anyway, I knew that I could make this a catalyst, so to speak, and went to the TARDIS and told you that Cameron had told me, even though, she never did. I knew you'd be hurt, so you'd go to the Doctor, and maybe…maybe he'd spill the beans. I guess he did."

"So, you set us up?"

"Yep," House said and cringed, preparing for the inevitable blow to his head. It never came.

"So…so, you went through all of that, just on a hunch?"

"Welcome to my life, Rose Tyler. Most everything I do, most of my decisions, are based on hunches."

"…How often are you right?"

House smiled. "All the time."

"Always?"

House nodded. It wasn't totally truthful, but he thought it was his turn to lie. "And I didn't appreciate you lying to me."

"Why do you even care?" Rose asked. "Why do you even care that the Doctor tell me? Why was that so important to you?"

House said nothing. Words weren't forming his mind- he couldn't answer. Nothing in the world could get him to answer.

"Quit psychoanalyzing me," he told her finally.

"Could say the same about you!" Rose said, but she was not angry. She heaved a sigh. "Honestly, I dunno whether to hug you or punch you."

"Neither, thanks."

But it was too late- Rose stood up on her toes and flung her arms around House, pulling him into a very tight hug. House stood rigid, but when Rose didn't pull out, he put a hand on her back. "You done yet?"

Rose squeezed a little harder and pulled back.

"Thanks…" she said. "I don't know what I'm thankin' you for…but thanks."

"Yeah," House said. "Yeah. You're welcome."

Rose looked House in the eyes, and for a moment, she thought she felt a spark of compassion- a little ember that glowed, if only for a second, but she was sure it was there. It made her feel like House was just slightly human…even if just slightly.

"What _is_ that you're wearing?" he asked, blinking, and breaking the gaze. Rose snorted and turned to run down the hallway, without another word.

**Dwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdw**

Twenty minutes later, Rose entered the Doctor's hospital room wearing jeans and a jacket The Doctor was sitting on his bed, his legs dangling off the side, and Jack was leaning against the wall.

"So…what are we waiting for?" Rose said.

"You!" Jack said. "Oh, you changed."

"You look much better," the Doctor said, nodding in acknowledgement. Rose beamed at him.

"Yep," Jack agreed. "What exactly were you wearing before, your pajamas?"

Rose rolled her eyes and opened the door for both of them to leave before her. "Let's just go find House and…Jack, stop scowling, I forbid you from beating him to a pulp."

"Fine," Jack grumbled, brushing past her and striding down the hallway. The Doctor was the next to exit, but before he went through the threshold, he stopped in front of her and looked at her. A broad smile spread across his face.

"Hello," he said.

"Hi," Rose said, and smiled at him.

And that was that. Rose didn't know when the "I love you" subject would ever come up again, but when it did, Rose would be prepared. Until then, Rose and the Doctor had a secret, that wasn't really a secret. It was better than a secret, because now, neither of them were keeping it from each other. The secret was out in the open.

So it wasn't really a secret anymore. It was…something else.

And, Rose knew, that was just fine with her.

A few minutes later, the trio entered the room where House, Wilson, Foreman, Chase, and Cameron all seemed to be hard at work on a new case.

"Oh, sorry," Rose said. "Are we interrupting?"

"No," Foreman said, getting up. "Patient's still in a coma."

"We just wanted to say bye before we left."

Cameron got up to hug Rose and shake the Doctor and Jack's hand. "I'd ask you to sign the papers, but seeing as the Doctor doesn't technically exist, that won't be necessary."

"And we'd like to keep it that way," Jack admonished.

"Yes, I know- we shredded the paperwork already," Cameron said, her eyes twinkling.

"Good!" Jack said heartily. "Great. That's all, then."

"Want to see us off?" Rose asked Cameron, once all of the doctors had bid them their goodbyes. "It's actually a pretty cool sight."

Cameron nodded and left the room with she, Jack and the Doctor. When no one followed, she popped her head back in the room. "Isn't anyone going to come with me?"

Nobody moved.

"Fine! If you don't want to witness an alien space craft take off, I say you deserve not to see it," she said curtly. "Especially you, Chase, you might run off. Like a…what was it… a scared wombat?"

Chase stood up. "I'm coming!" He took a few steps forward. "Foreman? Wilson? Dr. House?"

"Yeah, yeah," Forman said, standing up.

"Fine," House said. "But I'm not going unless Wilson goes."

"Quit acting like a child," Wilson said, and moved towards the door. "Cameron's right. I'm going to watch."

Eventually, all five of the doctors were gathered across the street from the hospital, gathered in the mouth of pavement where the alley met the sidewalk.

"That's the TARDIS, eh?" Wilson said. "That's pretty damn cool."

"Yup," the Doctor said proudly. "She is."

"It's a she?" Chase asked. "Oh, of course it's a she, all ships are 'she's.'"

The Doctor scowled but said nothing- he knew there was no way he would be able to explain to Chase that the TARDIS was alive.

"Why is it a phone box?" Wilson asked.

"It just…is. It's a long story," the Doctor said.

"Involving…"

"A corrupted chameleon circuit, alright?"

"Oh," Wilson said, as if he understood. "I see."

"We should go," Rose said, moving towards the TARDIS' door. "We've got things to see, places to go to…that kind of thing."

The Doctor unlocked the TARDIS' door and opened it. Now everyone could see inside.

"Woah!" Chase said. "It's… how is that possible?"

"Another very long story. But it is- you can see that it is."

"It's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside," House said, nodding. They all looked at him. "What?" he shrugged. "It just is."

Rose smiled at House. "Yeah," she said. She turned to Cameron and sadly said, "well, bye."

Cameron waved at Rose and Rose smiled back before disappearing into the TARDIS. Jack was next to go in, nodding at each of them but grinning at Cameron and Wilson. Finally, the Doctor took a few steps towards the threshold.

"Thanks again," he said, smiling at them. Not a huge smile, but enough. He went inside the TARDIS too, and shut the door behind him.

The TARDIS sat there for about fifteen seconds.

"Is it gonna do something?" Chase asked.

The minute the words escaped his mouth, a roaring noise began coming from the TARDIS. Chase jumped about three feet in the air and stumbled backward, but no one saw him- they were all transfixed on the TARDIS, which was dematerialising before their very eyes. The noise became louder before it became softer, and the outline of the box became fainter and fainter. In a few seconds, both the noise and the box were gone.

All five doctors stood, gaping at the spot where the TARDIS had been. A few moments later, they became conscious of the click-click-click of Stiletto heels from behind them.

Cuddy was walking up to them, frowning, her brow furrowed.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she started ranting. "I've been trying to find you for the past 10 minutes! Why are you all the way out here- and what was that noise? And those lights?" She turned to the eldest doctor. "House, are you playing with fireworks again?"

No one said anything. Instead, they silently began making their way back to the hospital, all a bit dazed. Even House and Wilson had to blink a few times to make sure their eyes weren't playing tricks on them.

"We just saw a TARDIS dematerialize," Cameron explained to Cuddy as she passed. "That was the… coolest, and greatest thing I have ever seen in my entire life."

Cuddy crossed her arms and let Cameron pass. Soon, though, she wheeled around and began jogging after the doctors.

"Is anyone going to explain to me just who this _Tardis_ is?"

**d****wdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdw**

**Yep, that's the end! Parting is such sweet sorrow.**

**Thanks for reading, though! Hope you enjoyed it.**


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